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Mother and Daughter Spend time together through telecommuting
07-02-07
Daughter is able to take care of elderly mother at home without having to resort to sending her to a nursing home. She is also being able to work from home by using her computer and the Internet to telecommute. She has decided to do what's right and not necessarily what is the easiest choice.
Portage, IN July 02, 2007 –
Years ago, families took care of their elderly relatives at home. However, in the society we now live in, our family lives and careers take such high priority in our lives, that people who are unable to take care of themselves are often relocated to an assisted living facility or nursing home. Marilyn Hurey, a graphic designer at Blaine's Business Services Inc. based in Highland, Indiana, wanted to stray away from this "norm," and stick to what some may now call "old fashioned" traditions.
Anyone that has taken care of a family member at home knows how hard it can be. It is a full time job that requires 24/7 care which most families struggle with. For some it can be nerve wrecking and an emotional roller coaster. But Hurey does it all on her own, while also working a full time job.
The situation arose when Hurey's Mother needed to be in a nursing home to work on strength-building exercises after battling an illness that left her extremely weak. There were only a handful of nursing homes that Hurey felt comfortable leaving her Mother in, and they were full. Her Mother was placed in a nursing home for the interim, but her health began to falter. "At that point, there was only one decision to be made: Get her out and bring her home," Hurey said. From there she set up home health care with a visiting nurse and therapist.
Hurey started working from home around Thanksgiving of 2006. "It came out of necessity," says President and Founder Blaine Hilton. "Of course we miss her 'physically' being at the office but, she's a part of our company just as our other co-workers."
Hilton's family cared for two grandparents and a great aunt throughout the past fifteen years. "You do what you can for the family you care about," he said. When the time came, Hilton personally made sure Marilyn was set up to use the best technology to accomplish her job at home.
It was a long process that proved to be very time consuming. "I'd be lying if I said it's been easy," Hurey stated. "I essentially have two full time jobs and there are days, especially when deadlines must be met that I feel 'pulled in two.' "
The transition from working in an office to working at home was not easy at the beginning either. "It can be common to work through the night and early morning to get projects finished because I'm also taking care of mom's needs during the day," said Hurey, who has no such thing as a "9-5 job" where you can go home and relax after a rough day. "It has only been recently that I actually took a Saturday off from the design work," she says.
In the web site design/development and graphic design industry, their work is not really done overnight. Blaine's works one-on-one with their clients, keeping high communication throughout the entire process which is a challenge for Hurey, but they have a strategy that's been working great. "I can knock out communications during the day and work on the designs anytime between communications or later on in the day," she said.
Hurey now has a much shorter commute to work. Her forty minute commute exists no longer and now consists of walking to her home office, booting up the computer, and joining the company's daily stand up meeting held every morning via a phone conference. Because of the many out of pocket expenses occurred when taking care of a family member at home, she has compensated by reducing gas and maintenance costs on her vehicle.
Hilton believes other employers who have the option to allow their employees to e-commute should consider it. It's a win-win situation for Hurey's family, the company, and the environment at a time when few people such as Al Gore feel it necessary to take action.
"It's great because we embrace being as environmentally friendly as we can. People debate things like global warming, but air pollution and limited natural resources are issues too. In a small way we're contributing to less of a dependence on foreign oil, less pollution, and less traffic on the roads."
From home she can work on designs, and communicate with the office and clients via e-mail or phone throughout the day. "Whenever there are computer issues, we can simply use the internet to remotely fix the computer within a very short period, just as if she were in the office," said co-worker Joseph Duron.
Working in a technology company, when it comes to Hurey's "e-commute" all of the bases are covered. Over the past year the company has developed their own Customer Relation Management (CRM) system to have the ability to track the status of clients as well as have a log of communication, so every employee knows when someone last spoke or sent a file to a client, and know whether or not that requires a follow up.
"When the time comes, most, if not all people, want to live at home rather than spend their final years in a nursing home, but of course it all depends on the circumstance," said Joseph Duron, a co-worker of Hurey. "Marilyn is able to give back that unselfish love that her Mom, my Mom, and all other Moms show their children."
Hurey considers herself fortunate on two levels: She gets to help her Mother and work at a job that she loves.
"As a graphic designer, I'm able to work from home and securely send projects back and forth via the internet," said Hurey. "I am also able to speak with the visiting nurses and therapists that come in throughout the day."
Hurey sees it as a privilege to help her Mother at this time in her life. "My mom was always there for me throughout my life and I'm glad I can be there for her now."
Blaine's Business Services, Inc. (http://www.blainehilton.com) feels that they are doing their part to help out a fellow co-worker and member of the community. "Given the circumstances we're doing what we can. We're making the best of the situation and we're all very proud that we can have a positive influence on Marilyn, her family, and the community as a whole," says Blaine Hilton, President and Founder.