Larissa Frenkel knows what it’s like to experience loss. At 62, she has lost two parents and two husbands to terminal illness. She also has had to say goodbye to her only daughter after leaving her homeland for a new home, thousands of miles away.

Growing up in her native Ukraine, Larissa was just 11 years-old when her mother died, leaving her to care for a grieving father and siblings. Running a household at such a young age forced Larissa to grow up quickly and leave childhood behind, but she says, “I did what I had to do.”

The death of Larissa’s mother and later, her father, was further compounded by the loss her first husband. With the Ukrainian economy in turmoil, life grew more and more difficult. Larissa made plans to leave the Ukraine and come to the US, and once here, made the painful decision to stay. By then she had a grown daughter and a grandson. 

 “In the Ukraine, there are so many problems. It is dangerous,” Larissa says, referring to the current conflict with Russian separatists. “Here, there is opportunity.”

That was 12 years ago. Today, Larissa is a Certified Home Health Aide (CHHA) with Family & Children’s Service’s (FCS) Home Care Services, caring for several of the agency’s 169 senior and disabled clients, a majority of whom qualify for government home care grant assistance. FCS Home Care Services is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Home Care, Inc., an organization that promotes the delivery of high-quality home care to communities in the state of New Jersey.

As a CHHA, Larissa diligently follows a plan of care developed by her supervising Registered Nurse in order to best administer to the needs of her clients. This may include personal care, such as bathing and dressing, medication reminders, ambulation and mobility assistance. She also shops for and prepares client meals, helps with laundry and performs light housekeeping. It’s a job that she enjoys, particularly because she has empathy for her clients.

 “The clients are nice to me,” Larissa says. “I will sit and listen to their stories and ask them questions. It warms my heart when I come back later and they say they missed me.”

Caring for the needs of and providing companionship for home-bound clients can be very satisfying work, but Larissa says it can also be difficult. She cares for several clients a week, traveling many miles between client homes. Despite the hardship this can sometimes cause, she never misses a visit and can always be relied on to bring the highest level of care to her FCS clients. It’s one of the reasons Larissa has been selected as July’s “Aide of the Month.”

Larissa, now widowed for a second time, hopes to one day to bring her daughter to the United States to live with her. Until that happens, she speaks with her by phone everyday “just to hear her voice.” 

Congratulations Larissa and to all of our RN’s and CHHA’s whose work helps to strengthen, protect and preserve the dignity and independence of people in need!