What We Do Matters
A reminder that it’s more than filling shifts - it’s people’s lives
Jake Mahon, one of our Sales leaders, shared this story as part of our Sales profiles series but it was deserving of its own post (check back soon for Jake’s profile).
I was sitting in the parking lot of a long-term care facility in Seattle, finishing up some notes before my last drop-in of the day. As I opened my car door to head inside, I heard a voice call out from across the lot, “Excuse me!”
My first instinct was to hurry; I figured the Admin was probably about to leave. But it was a woman, around 65-70 years old, asking if I could help jump-start her car. I told her, “Of course, I can help,” and pulled my vehicle next to theirs.
As I worked on getting the hood open and placing the cables, I couldn’t help but notice a heaviness around her, something deeper than the frustration of a dead battery. The older man with her, who looked close to ninety, carried that same weight. I didn’t pry. I just focused on getting them up and running.
Once the engine turned over, the woman thanked me and drove off. But the man stayed. He told me he lived in the building I was about to cold call. Then he asked if I could sit with him for a minute.
I knew I was tight on time, but I said yes.
He looked at me and told me his wife of seventy-five years had passed away the day before. The woman with him was his daughter. They had just finished burying her.
Then he said something I’ll never forget:
He didn’t want to go back to his apartment because he couldn’t stand the idea of being there without her, and he didn’t know what to do with himself.
You might say this is a sad story, and it is. But here’s why it matters.
The people we place, the nurses, the CNAs, the support staff, they’re the ones who will take that man back to his room. They’re the ones who will check on him, sit with him, comfort him, and make sure he has what he needs in one of the hardest moments of his life.
And when a building is understaffed, people like him slip through the cracks. They don’t get the time, support, or compassion they need just to keep moving forward.
This work isn’t just about filling shifts or hitting targets. It’s about ensuring that the older generation of America, people who built families, served communities, and lived entire lifetimes, receive the care, dignity, and love they deserve.
What we do matters. And that moment reminded me exactly why.
– Jake