Letter of Recommendation from Delia Siegrist
Delia Siegrist
3408 Panorama Drive
Huntsville, AL 35801
Home phone: (256) 551-0241
Work/cell: (256) 652-6661
email: delia@montesano.org
To Whom it May Concern:
I am pleased to write this letter of recommendation on behalf of Mrs. Katie Fairchild who provided excellent management and care of my dear friend Mrs. Eileen Martin. Mrs. Martin was a neighbor of mine many years ago and for the last several years, due to her many infirmities, yet with no children, eventually became my sole responsibility. Over the years, Mrs. Martin endured many surgeries, various living arrangements including extended hospital stays, rehab, assisted living, and eventually a nursing home which for various reasons was an unsatisfactory arrangement. It was then that I hired Mrs. Fairchild to come and live with her in a residential dwelling near my own home. However, by the time the move in date was arranged, Mrs. Martin’s doctors were predicting less than a week for her to live. With all in place however, we opted to try this last solution anyway and I believe, because of Mrs. Fairchild’s excellent care and management of the other caregivers, Mrs. Martin progressed from a bedridden, semi-conscious state with IVs and daily hospice nurses to six enjoyable months that included excellent meals, exercise, music, wheelchair rides outside (and even some walks!), games and a loving environment that had eluded her for years. The effort was well worth it in my opinion. She died peacefully in her own bed around people who loved and cared for her.
To achieve these results, Mrs. Fairchild’s responsibilities were quite involved. Moving to an empty house, she pitched right in and coordinated the move of Mrs. Martin’s things and shopped for other items lacking. She had to outfit a kitchen from the ground up, plan and shop for meals, hire and fire appropriate caregivers to help her (Mrs. Martin required 2 caregivers round the clock), design a system to keep all the caregivers informed of Mrs. Martin’s progress, coordinate appointments with home health services, physical therapy, hospice members, nurses, medical equipment reps, cable/telephone/repair people, etc. Mrs. Fairchild also managed Mrs. Martin’s numerous medications and special diet needs. Through all of this, Mrs. Fairchild was always energetic, professional, positive, compassionate and loving not only to Mrs. Martin but to her little army of caregivers as well. She and they worked tirelessly together and continue to be good friends now. Mrs. Martin came to rely on her and trust her judgement as did I.
I would recommend Mrs. Fairchild unconditionally as an compassionate, loving manager and caregiver for an elder at any stage of their life. She has experience living with elders and clearly loves her work. For Mrs. Martin, she brought loving closure and a smooth transition from this life and that was precisely what I hoped Mrs. Martin could experience in the end.
Sincerely,
Delia Siegrist
Letter of Recommendation From Vickie Jones
October 25, 2010
To Whom It May Concern:
It is with my sincerest pleasure to write this letter of recommendation for Katie Fairchild. I have known Mrs. Fairchild for 2 ½ years as a supervisor, house manager, and friend respectively. She is a highly qualified professional in providing total care for elderly/geriatric individuals.
Katie will always assert that any resident, and his/her well-being will always be top priority and she centers her life on this principle. While under her supervision, she paid careful attention to Mrs. Martin, the 91 year old lady she was responsible for, and the surroundings by purchasing fresh flowers daily, enforcing strict guidelines regarding cleanliness, and ensuring that each room of the facility was engulfed in beauty and artwork/pictures that Mrs. Martin would love, or created or displayed in her home own. She planned tasteful meals and would ask Mrs. Martin if she desired to eat a specific dish. Katie insisted that all meals were to be freshly prepared and seasoned according the diet of Mrs. Martin. She frequently designed and thought of innovative ideas that would enhance the overall care and needs of both Mrs. Martin and the caregivers e.g., she created a caregiver area/lounge that included a baby monitoring system that enabled the caregiver to hear Mrs. Martin at all times, regardless of what room in the house the caregiver was, and if the caregiver was outside, the caregivers were instructed to wear a clip on monitor. Katie, herself, always had a monitor on her, and one at her bedside. Katie maintained all records accurately and confidentially by placing important documentation in the proper files immediately and keeping them in a locked file cabinet. Katie kept a daily log of all supplies and medications and made certain that Mrs. Martin did not run out of any necessities. Many times she would stay up all night assisting the caregivers with Mrs. Martin, and researching different methods and strategies for enhancing complete care for her. Katie spent countless hours learning about Mrs. Martin’s diagnosis/es, and finding solutions to make a healthy environment for Mrs. Martin, both mentally and physically. She conducted daily meetings with each caregiver and asked for updates to determine an accurate status as to whether Mrs. Martin was maintaining or declining in health. Her love, care, and concern for the elderly is insatiable and she truly goes beyond the call of duty, no matter the situation. Caring for others is her destiny, something that she has accepted with pleasure.
I can, with confidence, recommend Katie Fairchild to become the provider of care for any elder, especially geriatrics, needing assistance.
If any further information is needed in your consideration of Katie Fairchild, please feel free to contact me at your convenience.
Sincerely,
Vickie R. Jones, B.S.
Caregiver
Home Instead Senior Care
(256) 604-7171
Letter of Recommendation From Jaime Watts Farrell
It is with great confidence and please that I write a letter of recommendation for Katie Fairchild, and my personal knowledge of her love and care for elders, and how she would like to make a difference for them.
I have known Katie Fairchild for25 years, and her care and love for anyone, has always shown bright. When it comes to elders, Katie has a huge passion, desire and ambition to help them, regardless of their medical condition.
I was under Katie’s supervision as a Physical Therapist Assistant, when she cared for Mrs. Eileen Martin, from May 2008, until her death in Oct. 2008. Katie had hand picked me, as she knew that I also had a love for elders, and would do well with the job. Katie first contacted the Hospice provider and had them send a Physical Therapist to train me on what important exercises that Mrs. Martin needed.
Katie was diligent in keeping records on how the physical therapy was going. She printed out record sheets for every time I was there, and the records included how well Mrs. Martin did with her therapy, personal notes from myself concerning Mrs. Martins progress, which she would discuss with me in more detail.
As a team of the 5 crew that Katie supervised, and with me being there at least 4 days of the week, I saw first hand and admired Katie and the way she handled the care of Mrs. Martin and the way she handled the caregivers under her, to include myself.
That records were kept on anything and everything concerning the health, and total care of Mrs. Martin. The caregivers were required to write in a daily journal of everything that went on with Mrs. Martin’s care, which included so much. This was important to Katie and an asset to all the shifts of the caregivers to be informed and updated of how Mrs. Martin was doing.
Katie also spent hours on the Internet trying to find ways to improve Mrs. Martins care. Katie always made sure that anything she found on her Internet research was dated and documented for the caregivers as well.
Katie also made sure that the house was always clean, and that it was surrounded by pretty and comforting things for Mrs. Martin. The house was always organized, and she had it this way for the benefit of the care, concern and love for Mrs. Martin.
Should you have any other questions about Katie Fairchild, and her ability to care for any elder, regardless of their stage in life, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Jaime W. Farrell