Author Dave Pelzer once noted, “Something good comes out of every crisis.” So it was with Juan Sebastian Peck, who reached deeply to discover a previously unknown personal strength when he learned of a friend’s stunning cancer diagnosis two years ago.

Juan recalled: “It was a very difficult time for all involved. My instinct was to jump into the situation and help in any way I could. It was my first time dealing with this type of situation, and I did the best I could to help him during those very difficult moments.”

Juan added: “I cried many nights in silence. I didn’t want him to see me like that. It was painful. Unfortunately, he was in the last stage of cancer and died three months after it was diagnosed. I was very upset but happy I was able to be there for him in those moments. Spending those last days of his life next to him, I think I learned that my propose in life is to help other.”

While Juan was helping his friend, the nurses who tended to the friend noticed something amazing and talked of observing an untapped potential: The nurses saw that Juan had compassion and love for others. Referring to his friend’s nurses, Juan explained: “They gave me a lot of encouragement to believe in my abilities to be able to do more for others.”

Enter Home Instead® of Clearwater, an award-winning franchise owned by Julie Castle, which no doubt had been the furthest thing from Juan’s mind before his friend’s terminal cancer diagnosis. “I had worked in several of my family’s businesses while I was growing up as a teenager outside of the United States. When I moved to the U.S., I worked in customer service until I found Home Instead through an online job posting. I didn’t have any previous family caregiving experience, but I had helped my friend and wanted to give this job a shot,” Juan said.

Eight months after joining Home Instead, Director of Care Professional Services JC Crady announced Juan had been honored as a Care Professional of the Month. Among the considerations for achieving Care Pro of the Month status, an employee has shown he or she has gone above and beyond the call of duty. Empathy and compassion are taken into account for the award, as well as skill and wisdom for dealing with challenging situations. Juan embodies Home Instead’s guiding principles of “Build Trust, Take the Lead and Share Your Heart.”

In addition to his strong companionship skills, Juan provides safety assurance, meal preparation, medication reminders, light housekeeping, and transportation and errands. He offers personal assistance with eating, grooming, dressing, bathing, incontinence care, cognitive impairment, hospice support and mobility. By expertly doing so, Juan and his fellow Care Pros not only assist their clients, but help their families eliminate worry, reduce stress and re-establish personal freedom. Focusing on Home Instead’s training, processes and procedures of successful caregiving helped Juan achieve the Care Pro of the Month award.

“I love being able to connect with people and help others. I appreciate and enjoy the Home Instead staff. The staff is very helpful and supportive of my role. My client, Fred, always treats me the same as his son. He always says he wants to adopt me as his own,” Juan said.

Juan enjoys being a part of the Care Pro team for the Pinellas County franchise, a member of the highly successful Honor and Home Instead network. Honor is the world’s largest home care network with the most advanced care platform, revolutionizing how society cares for older adults, their families and CAREGivers. Honor acquired Home Instead in 2021, and the combined company supports the work of more than 100,000 CAREGivers across 13 countries and meets the growing needs of millions of older adults and their families worldwide.