A South Dublin home carer has been named Comfort Keepers Carer of the Year 2021. Naomi Igiehon received the prestigious accolade at a special ceremony at Comfort Keepers’ office in Nutgrove, on the 1st of April 2022. Comfort Keepers, the nationwide quality provider of award-winning home care services, employs 300 people at its Nutgrove office. Following the judges’ selection based on set criteria and including online voting, Naomi was one of 12 finalists selected for the coveted award. Her colleague, Dympna Duffy, was also honoured as one of the finalists for her fantastic work in the community.
Naomi (from Dublin 8) is a mother of two and has been a carer with Comfort Keepers for over seven years. She loves to sing and dance and she became a carer because she loves to work with elderly people. According to the nominations from co-workers and clients, Naomi is a brilliant carer – very helpful, kind, caring and hard-working, and she really looks after all her clients.
Dympna, from Shankill, Co. Dublin, is also a mum of two and a grandmother. She has been with Comfort Keepers for over nine years. She has vast experience in caring for the sick and has been her husband’s carer for over 15 years. Dympa joined Comfort Keepers because she could see how its teams genuinely care about the welfare of their clients and the wellbeing of their carers. According to the nominations from co-workers and clients, Dympa has been described as ‘an angel here on earth’. She is an amazing carer, so good at her job, always happy to help, and goes out of her way to ensure her client’s happiness.
Collette Gleeson, Managing Director at Comfort Keepers Ireland said: “Our carers are amazing individuals and a vital resource providing outstanding, personal and relationship-based care and support to the most vulnerable in our society and their families across South Dublin and South County Dublin. Their hard work and passion have been particularly valued since the onset of the global pandemic, with people wanting to stay safe and happy at home for as long as possible.
“Our Carer of the Year 2021 is a truly caring person and it’s clear for all to see that Naomi loves working with people. She is extremely dedicated, full of passion for her job, and she loves her clients. Feedback from them is consistently excellent; she has such a positive impact on her clients and they care about her too. Naomi is a great representative for Comfort Keepers and a very well-deserving recipient of our Carer of the Year 2021 award.
“Dympna has also done fantastic work in the community across the last year and throughout her long-standing caring career, making a positive impact on her clients’ daily lives. She is a highly competent and caring person, and her commitment to Comfort Keepers and her clients has been outstanding. Dympna is another great representative of our quality care.”
On being selected as Comfort Keepers Carer of the Year 2021, Naomi said: “I am absolutely delighted and so grateful for this honour. I love what I do and I love interacting with my elderly clients – they are so positive. I’m most proud every time I see my clients happy and full of joy. It’s such a privilege to care for them.”
On being nominated for this year’s award, Dympna said: “I am thrilled to have been selected as a finalist. I love that I am making a difference in people’s lives and that I get to see them improve daily. I also love building relationships with my clients, especially when they tell me that they look forward to my visits and our chats. I’m most proud of the little things that make a big difference in their lives.”
In addition, four other awards were presented at the ceremony in the Nutgrove office. Client care supervisor, Anne Doherty, was named Community Champion 2021. Also, Galina Rose (carer/home support worker), Kay Kennedy (client services manager), and Barbara Kettle (client care coordinator) all received a recognition award for their 10 years of service.
