Gifty’s maternal, loving, and deeply empathetic nature, coupled with her famous sass, made each family she works with fall in love with her.

She is a member of the heroic legion of hospice caregivers that see to vital patient necessities, thus freeing up distraught families to focus on what’s important—quality time with loved ones during the final moments of their lives.

Gifty was assigned to a hospice patient (we’ll call her Cathy) for 12-hour shifts, 4 days a week. The two immediately hit it off…Mary regaled Gifty with stories of her travels all over the world, and even to Gifty’s hometown in Ghana. Gifty prepared all of Mary’s meals, cleaned her house, bathed her, put lotion on her, assisted her to the bathroom and comforted Mary when she was in pain.

As expected in hospice care, Mary eventually started her natural decline and transitioned to the “actively passing” state of her journey. On the last day of Gifty’s weekly shift, she rubbed Mary’s hand and told her, “Don’t you go anywhere. I’ll be back Sunday. Don’t you go anywhere without saying bye to me.” Although she wasn’t able to respond, Mary must have internalized Gifty’s message.

The next three days were difficult for Mary. She didn’t eat and slept most of the time. The hospice care team was surprised by her fortitude. She seemed to be holding on for something, perhaps even waiting for something.

When Gifty returned to start her week with Mary again, she said, “I’m here Mary…Gifty is here. I’m happy to see you beautiful.”

Mary passed away an hour later.

Gifty didn’t view taking care of Mary as just a job. She gave Mary a true gift, one that honored her life and made her passing a bit easier.

It’s because of incredible caregivers like Gifty that we created FrannyCares. Our hope is to remove the difficulties and “noise” of matching quality caregivers to quality employers. We want to enable these superheroes to find jobs on their terms and then focus on what they do best…providing care with love and support.