Honoring the Hands That Heal with Michele Thorburn

In this episode of Yahweh’s Money, I sit down with Michele Thorburn, a strategic Human Resources Director with over 20 years of global expertise. Together, we explore the "Caregiver’s Paradox"—the reality of immigrant caregivers who provide high-end, luxury care for clients while navigating their own financial, cultural, and socioeconomic hurdles.

From her upbringing in South America to her advocacy for minority and women's rights, Michele shares how her "global soul" informs her leadership at Assisting Hands. This conversation serves as a powerful reminder that honoring God in business means ensuring that those who care for our elderly are themselves cared for with dignity, equity, and a true sense of belonging.

You’ll Discover:

• The Power of "Adopted" Family: Moving stories of finding community and mentorship in new lands, and how caregivers often become an integral part of the families they serve.
• Cultural Competency in Finance: The unique challenges immigrant workers face, including navigating complex systems like 401(k)s and dealing with the fear of financial loss.
• Leading with Compassion: Tactical ways to support a diverse workforce, such as acknowledging religious observances like Ramadan or Lent and providing "care for the caregiver" through physical and emotional wellness programs.

Featured Scripture

Leviticus 19:34

"The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God."

Action Step

This week, move from inspiration to intentional action with these steps:

1. Learn and Acknowledge: If you work alongside or employ immigrants, take a moment to learn one specific detail about their home culture or their journey to this country to foster true belonging.
2. Strategic Prayer: Specifically pray for the "strangers among us," asking for protection and peace for immigrant caregivers balancing heavy emotional labor with modern socioeconomic stresses.
3. Self-Care Check: If you are in a caregiving role, identify one way to "take care of you" this week—whether through stretching, rest, or seeking support—so you can continue to care fo

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Transcript

Shay Cook [00:00:02]:

And what practices in the HR role have you streamlined to protect those most vulnerable workers at the front lines or on the front lines?

Michele Thorburn [00:00:09]:

Definitely compliance. HR compliance is always important. And that includes everything from harassment to if you're stressed, what do you do? I even do this in our training. You come home from work, one of our HR people is a personal trainer. Here are some stretching exercises you can do. Don't forget that you have to take care of you, which is not necessarily cultural for the people who work with us, before you can take care of others.

Shay Cook [00:00:37]:

Ever felt those awkward vibes when religion and money come up? You're not alone. Welcome to Yahweh's Money, the podcast where we tackle the crossroads of faith and finance. I'm Shay Cook, an accredited financial counselor and the CEO and founder of Crusaders for Change LLC. Join us on our journey as we discuss topics like tithing, saving, and conquering debt through religious perspectives. Let's get started. 

Shay Cook [00:01:03]:

Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of Yahweh's Money. Today, we're going to be talking about honoring the hands that heal, bridging the gap between luxury care and caregiver struggle with Michele Thorburn. And we're going to introduce her in a little bit, so the heart of home care is often found in the hands of those who have traveled the furthest to be there.

Shay Cook [00:01:26]:

For many of our geriatric or certified geriatric assistants and caregivers, the mission isn't just a job, it's a lifeline. They're navigating a dual reality, providing world-class care to those with means while personally navigating the complexities of being an immigrant in a challenging modern environment. Today, we're joined by a leader who understands these complexities from the inside out. Michele Thorburn brings over 20 years of global HR expertise and a deep multilingual perspective to the table. We're discussing how the heart of a caregiver and the strategy of a leader can bridge the gap between providing a service and honoring human life. So today's scripture is focused in Leviticus 19:34. The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

Shay Cook [00:02:24]:

The Bible is clear the stranger or the immigrant is not an outsider to be mingled or managed, but a neighbor to be loved as ourselves. In the world of home care, our caregivers often these strangers in a new land. To honor God in this business means ensuring that those who care for our elderly are themselves cared for diligently and with dignity and equity and belonging. So again, welcome, Michele, to the podcast. So great to have you here. You're a strategic—

Michele Thorburn [00:02:59]:

my pleasure.

Shay Cook [00:03:00]:

Thank you. Thank you. Human resources director with a global soul, proficient in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and you spent over 2 years streamlining functions and advocating for the internal, the employees. So tell us more about your journey.

Michele Thorburn [00:03:15]:

Uh, so I came here when I was 14. With my mother and my brother, understanding that how culturally things are completely different here and what that looks like and not having extended family. It was just the, the two of us. And then my grandparents who were living somewhere else and missing them and starting from an early age, realizing that there are no older people around me. My grandparents are around me. No one's around me. And going to my first year of college, deciding that I want to do something in a nursing home. And I started an adopt-a-grandparent program.

Shay Cook [00:03:53]:

Oh, wow.

Michele Thorburn [00:03:54]:

And that was the beginning of my journey, understanding that we can find family. It just looks different.

Shay Cook [00:04:02]:

Exactly. You're not necessarily born with your family, you know, related to them. It just comes through life and experiences. I know being a military spouse, traveling all around the world, I've made a lot of extended family members.

Michele Thorburn [00:04:14]:

Yes.

Shay Cook [00:04:14]:

Yes. Yes. Wow. All right, let's get into our rapid fire questions. 

Rapid Fire Questions Jingle [00:04:21]:

Take your seat, let the wisdom inherit. Let's hit the rapid fire questions. Say what's on your spirit. Take your seat, let the wisdom inherit. Hit the rapid fire questions. Say what's on your spirit. 

Shay Cook [00:04:48]:

All right, with 20 years in HR, what is the one myth about immigrant workers that you are most passionate about debunking?

Michele Thorburn [00:04:55]:

The fact that they're lazy.

Shay Cook [00:04:57]:

Yes.

Michele Thorburn [00:04:57]:

They are the hardest working, most compassionate group of people that I've worked with. They're incredible.

Shay Cook [00:05:05]:

That's good. And I've seen the same living in Turkey and in Germany and other places, and they are, you know, whether here in this country of America or be out outside of it. There's some hardworking people all around this world.

Michele Thorburn [00:05:16]:

Absolutely.

Shay Cook [00:05:18]:

And just because they look different than you doesn't mean that they not gonna work as hard or harder. All right, so you love the strength of women in India. What is one trait from those women that you see in the caregivers at Assisting Hands?

Michele Thorburn [00:05:32]:

I love the strength of women, period, worldwide. It doesn't matter if it's India or Ethiopia. Or Turkey, as you said, which I found absolutely amazing myself. Caregivers have that strength. Women have that strength worldwide. And they bring that strength with them when they come. And they're loving and compassionate cultures which embrace the elderly, which is so important to our community.

Shay Cook [00:06:00]:

Yes, that's wonderful. I love that. All right, and in a difficult environment, what is the first thing an organization loses when they forget about belonging?

Michele Thorburn [00:06:10]:

So what we have to understand is that— and I try to help the caregivers understand— is that you do belong here. And without you here, we are nothing.

Shay Cook [00:06:22]:

Amen.

Michele Thorburn [00:06:23]:

This is such an important group of people that do extraordinary work. Belonging breaks down a company if it's not visible. So it's highly important to me that they feel a part of the company and that we understand and they understand that we are there for them and that we support them.

Shay Cook [00:06:42]:

I love that. That says inclusion, you know, they want to feel included.

Michele Thorburn [00:06:45]:

Yes, absolutely.

Shay Cook [00:06:46]:

As part and belonging. And that's amazing. So I know I've worked in different settings, like I said, with the military and different cultures and religious backgrounds and all the things. And people are just people.

Michele Thorburn [00:06:58]:

Absolutely.

Shay Cook [00:06:58]:

We just want to be cared for. We want people to treat us kind and just, you know, like you said, belong. And if you're there and you're really interested, sometimes people are just in a job just for the money. But some people are, a lot of people are there for the passion and what they, of the work.

Michele Thorburn [00:07:14]:

And our caregivers are certainly for the passion and they are amazing at it. And as I said, I think that's very cultural. You, most of our caregivers come from cultures that their elderly are the most important thing to them and it comes naturally to be able to take care of the elderly, which in this culture is a little bit different. So I think that's where it's such a perfect fit.

Shay Cook [00:07:36]:

Yeah, I love that. All right. Well, thank you for that rapid fire question. So let's get into our main discussion, starting with the caregiver's paradox. Let's discuss the tension of caregivers who provide high-end care for wealthy clients and beneficiaries while facing their own financial and cultural hurdles as immigrants. You know, they're still people too, and now they're having to deal with somebody who might think they're above them and all that. So, What have you seen in your world and how are, you know, the caregivers and providers dealing with that?

Michele Thorburn [00:08:07]:

They navigate it beautifully. They're very patient. They end up being part of the family. One would never think that it would be such a connection, but when you come from a culture and you're taken away from all your norms and your families, you're here with the older generation. You're establishing your new type of family. Families are so diverse and we can pick our own families. I've done that. I've picked and choose my own family since I only had my brother and my mother here, and then my brother left for 30 years.

Shay Cook [00:08:37]:

Oh, wow.

Michele Thorburn [00:08:38]:

So it was me, and that's what I always tell everybody. We can choose and pick our family. It may look different, but we still have a loving, giving perspective to give to other people and an understanding. And we also have to look at the diversity of cultures. Just because you're from Africa doesn't mean we're all the same. East Africa and West Africa are completely different.

Shay Cook [00:09:00]:

Totally.

Michele Thorburn [00:09:00]:

Turkey and Iran are completely different. None of these cultures, very few of them are monolithic. So we have to look at it as— and Asian cultures, we have to look at each individual and work with them so that they can understand our philosophy at Assisting Hands, and then they can be successful.

Shay Cook [00:09:19]:

Yeah. And let's talk about the financial piece of it all. You know, everybody deals with finances, money management, whether it's debt, credit, very differently in different cultures, but what have you seen some of the trends working with the immigrants or the—

Michele Thorburn [00:09:32]:

Um, it's very much dependent on the spouse.

Shay Cook [00:09:35]:

Hmm.

Michele Thorburn [00:09:35]:

If they are females, money is run by the spouse. Many of them work because they have to. Some of them, a lot of them are single mothers like the rest of us. Um, a lot of them are married and the financial, uh, aspects of things are handled through the spouse or through their children who are here, first-generation Americans that understand the system a little bit better.

Shay Cook [00:09:57]:

Yeah.

Michele Thorburn [00:09:58]:

So that part is difficult. It's difficult explaining things like 401(k) and technology. So there is navigating that, but there's also my trying to educate them and to help them out as much as I possibly can.

Shay Cook [00:10:14]:

Yeah. Yeah. And what about religion and faith? We were talking about this before we got on here that we both study religion and believe there's one God, but everybody practices different. I'm sure now that is a part of the workplace as well.

Michele Thorburn [00:10:28]:

Absolutely. I was telling my crew today, like, we need to remember when our caregivers are coming in from training and it's Ramadan, they have not— they haven't eaten all day, their energy is low. How do we react? You know, we provide lunch. Do we not provide lunch on that day? What does that culturally look like? Do we even want to train during Ramadan?

Shay Cook [00:10:49]:

Good question.

Michele Thorburn [00:10:50]:

You know, if someone is in Lent and giving up sugar, that right there is the same thing, the lack of energy for your giving up sugar. So we have to look at all aspects of culture and finances and just embrace and educate.

Shay Cook [00:11:06]:

Yeah, I love that. Embrace and educate. That's what Michele said. I believe it. So I know in your job of HR, you're also advocating for people as well, right? And you have a philosophy.

Michele Thorburn [00:11:19]:

Absolutely. My entire life.

Shay Cook [00:11:21]:

Entire life. Let's talk more about that advocacy. What are you most proud of?

Michele Thorburn [00:11:25]:

So it started, like I said, when I came here and decided to do an adopt-a-grandparent program to advocate for the elderly and to understand how the family nuclear system here is so different than it is in most other cultures. And then advocating for female rights, minority rights from the beginning with DEI and other forms. I've always been passionate about minority rights and letting people understand history and letting people know the strength of women and how important education is worldwide for women so that we can move forward and be independent.

Shay Cook [00:12:04]:

Exactly. Education is key. And yeah, a lot of countries are not as privileged as this country to have education, even though we still have a long way to go compared to other countries. You know, there are countries like in the Middle East and stuff Right.

Michele Thorburn [00:12:16]:

Exactly.

Shay Cook [00:12:16]:

Don't allow the young girls to learn. Yeah. Or even in some parts of Africa and beyond. So where did you grow up at? Where did you spend the most time at?

Michele Thorburn [00:12:24]:

I spent most of my younger years in Brazil.

Shay Cook [00:12:27]:

Oh, okay.

Michele Thorburn [00:12:28]:

And some of them also in Colombia. And then we moved here when I was 14. So I grew up in South America and then my family's lived as well elsewhere, you know, India. I've been to a couple of times and I've worked in India, which I absolutely love. And Turkey, as you mentioned, is probably one of my favorite countries in the world. You know, the first woman to ever build a mosque, architect, is from Turkey.

Shay Cook [00:12:49]:

Yeah.

Michele Thorburn [00:12:50]:

Always advocating for women and for elderly and for human rights.

Shay Cook [00:12:54]:

Yeah, because we all deserve and equality is important. Like you said, DEI, diversity is super important, and inclusion. I mean, all of it is important.

Michele Thorburn [00:13:02]:

And having individuals understand what that means, because I don't think there's an understanding of it. And with this, The era that we're in right now, I can see there's not an understanding of what that means.

Shay Cook [00:13:15]:

Yeah, exactly. And what did somebody say recently? You know, if you want to sell to a diverse population, you got to have diversity in your company.

Michele Thorburn [00:13:25]:

Absolutely.

Shay Cook [00:13:27]:

You know, so I know how you think one or the other is not going to be right. I mean, in order to be able to sell to those people, really understand people of all walks of life, you got to, that has to be representative.

Michele Thorburn [00:13:37]:

And the world is so small now. It's like, let's embrace the fact that we can be together.

Shay Cook [00:13:42]:

Yeah, exactly.

Michele Thorburn [00:13:44]:

80 years ago, that wasn't even possible. So now it's just absolutely amazing.

Shay Cook [00:13:49]:

Yeah, exactly. And what practices in the HR role have you streamlined to protect those most vulnerable workers at the front lines or on the front lines?

Michele Thorburn [00:13:58]:

Definitely compliance. HR compliance is always important, and that includes everything from harassment to if you're stressed what do you do? I even do this in our training. You come home from work, one of our HR people is a personal trainer. Here are some stretching exercises you can do. Don't forget that you have to take care of you, which is not necessarily cultural for the people who work with us, before you can take care of others. So letting them know that we are here, we're instituting an EAP program to help them out a little bit more. There'll be more education on that. Just having them know that we have their backs.

Michele Thorburn [00:14:38]:

We have rewards programs for them. We celebrate them.

Shay Cook [00:14:42]:

I love that. There's a lot of places of work that still don't have that, and they're very toxic. I've worked, you know, from the government to private sector corporate, where it's just all about just put them in that rat race to make sure they make the dollar and make the money for the company and forget about there's a whole person there that you have to consider.

Michele Thorburn [00:14:59]:

Our owner, knows our caregivers. And at any given time, we have at least 250. And he is just— they love him. And that leadership transcends throughout the entire organization. It's just a blessing.

Shay Cook [00:15:17]:

Oh, that's awesome. That's awesome. Not all of us have that. So I'm glad to hear that. So, all right. So let's talk about the language of compassion, how being multilingual and global changes the way you lead and mentor to diverse workforce, tell us the story about you mentoring to your workforce, to one person.

Michele Thorburn [00:15:35]:

So to one person, one of the young ladies who works with me is from a culture that I was not that familiar with, and it's in Asia Middle East. So getting to know her and how she feels and thinks and what things look like and trying to empower her as a woman who has not necessarily taken on the role that women need in this culture because it's a little bit more difficult to navigate in this culture. And so being patient, educating her every moment I can, sending her off, calling her in, giving her lots of love, giving her support, all of it.

Shay Cook [00:16:12]:

Yeah. And who did that for you, Michele?

Michele Thorburn [00:16:14]:

I was very lucky. When I first came here, I was mentored by an Indian, Dr. Vijay Chauhan. Who took me into his house and was like a second father to me when my father was not available. And he literally changed my perspective on family, life, and love.

Shay Cook [00:16:35]:

Wow. Wow. Wow. And now you're sharing it and paying the way forward for other people. Yeah, I love that.

Michele Thorburn [00:16:43]:

And I have done that for my godchildren and the children, the young people that I mentor that have worked with me. Are still in my circle and still my friends, and I'm still always in contact with them. I think young people are just— people are incredible.

Shay Cook [00:16:58]:

Yes, they are. Complicated souls, but they are incredible and they need us to— and we needed, you know, the people behind us and to uplift us. And we're, 'cause we're up on earth, like they always say, we're on somebody's shoulders. Somebody's built this to the point so we could be, you know, my ancestors that I recently found out are from Benin and Togo, Nigeria, Mali. And I never knew until 2 weeks ago that my family was from West Africa, even though my daughter would say, uh, my ancestors were enslaved. Of course they were West Africa. I'm like, well, it was nice to know that where region they were from. I never knew that.

Shay Cook [00:17:35]:

And to finally know that, you know, and then I stand on their shoulders and all of the blood, sweat, and tears and death and all the good and bad that they went through. To get us, you know, not to get us here. We were enslaved. I'm sure. I know that to be true, but to honor their legacy. And that's very important to be able to pass that on to my daughter and nieces and nephews and everybody I've worked with over the last 30-some years is really important to me to pass that on.

Michele Thorburn [00:18:00]:

And that part of us is Afro-Caribbean. And so we're teaching our nieces and nephews now what that looks like and how that is different from African American.

Shay Cook [00:18:10]:

Yeah.

Michele Thorburn [00:18:11]:

It's a very different history. Also a very rich history.

Shay Cook [00:18:14]:

Yeah.

Michele Thorburn [00:18:15]:

And so we also have a lot of caregivers that are from the islands, which I connect to, like, automatically, which is just lovely. 

Shay Cook [00:18:25]:

Oh, that's awesome. So why did you choose Assisting Hands, and how does the company's philosophy manifest in the way it treats a caregiver on a rainy Tuesday?

Michele Thorburn [00:18:34]:

I actually think Assisting Hands chose me.

Shay Cook [00:18:37]:

Oh, OK. Tell me more.

Michele Thorburn [00:18:39]:

As I mentioned, I was in women's health for years. And then as I started looking again, I just wanted to do something with the elderly and I wasn't sure what that looked like or how it was gonna manifest itself. I just kept looking at environments that had positions that were open working with the elderly. I'm like, this is what I wanna go back to. And I received a call from Assisting Hands. And the rest is history.

Shay Cook [00:19:06]:

Wow. How long you been there?

Michele Thorburn [00:19:08]:

Uh, 3 years last month.

Shay Cook [00:19:10]:

Okay. Congratulations.

Michele Thorburn [00:19:11]:

Thank you.

Shay Cook [00:19:12]:

Yeah. So it seems like you really love it and enjoy the community. Yeah. Yeah.

Michele Thorburn [00:19:17]:

I, I, I think this is the happiest I've ever been. I see the amazing work that we do. The clients are just, it's just an incredible environment.

Shay Cook [00:19:29]:

Oh, that's lovely. And that's what we all deserve, right? To do something that you're passionate about, you know, and obviously we need money as a tool to get us from A to Z a lot of times, A to B, me sometimes. Um, but you know, that money situation is really important. Let's talk about your journey with money though. Like, what lessons have you learned over the years about money management?

Michele Thorburn [00:19:51]:

So my journey with money was not a fun one. We went from being pretty affluent to moving here to the States to really not having any money. And then to having a single mom who didn't know how to manage money.

Shay Cook [00:20:03]:

Mm-hmm.

Michele Thorburn [00:20:04]:

And a language barrier for years too, for me, not so much for my brother. And a mother who took the money and kept it instead of even really helping her children out with it, because there was so much fear behind not having money and navigating a whole new system that she had never really navigated in over 35 years and what that looked like growing up in that environment. So as a result, when I started making money, I had no idea how to save it, how to spend it. So because the culture doesn't teach us, you get these credit cards, you get in debt, and there's that fear of like, well, if I don't spend it, what if I lose it again?

Shay Cook [00:20:45]:

Exactly.

Michele Thorburn [00:20:45]:

Whereas my brother was the opposite. He's like, well, if I get it and spend it, what if I lose it? His philosophy was very different from mine and his life was a very different trajectory than mine. And then once again, I had this wonderful mentor come into my life and she's like, you need to start a savings for retirement. And I'm like, what if I don't get there? And she's like, you need to start a savings for retirement. And so that's where my journey started, trying to get out of debt, severe debt, having my own business and combining my business with my personal life instead of separating the two was another financial journey that I had to work through. And it was a process. For sure.

Shay Cook [00:21:25]:

Wow. And now you're on the other side?

Michele Thorburn [00:21:27]:

Yes. Yes. Okay, good.

Shay Cook [00:21:29]:

I was making sure.

Michele Thorburn [00:21:31]:

Yes.

Shay Cook [00:21:32]:

Thank God. Yeah. A lot of us are either just beginning. Yes.

Michele Thorburn [00:21:35]:

Retirement. I can see it.

Shay Cook [00:21:37]:

Good. Good. Well, thank you. Thank you to the mentors that you listened. Also, thanks to yourself.

Michele Thorburn [00:21:44]:

And that's why when I do talk to the caregivers, I'm like, I get, you know, that there are difficult financial situations. Everybody, most people are in a difficult financial situation, but it is so important. Same thing with, you know, accidental insurance. I use myself as an example. I broke my collarbone the one year I didn't have the insurance.

Shay Cook [00:22:05]:

Oh man.

Michele Thorburn [00:22:06]:

So what does that look like? So I am passionate about doing my best to help them with finances.

Shay Cook [00:22:14]:

Oh, wow. And you also have real life experiences to share and to speak from, you know, some people are more on the affluent side or just, you know, enabled by parents or whatever the situation may be. They don't really understand. But when you can speak from real life, raw experiences, I think that really opens people up to listen to you.

Michele Thorburn [00:22:34]:

Yes.

Shay Cook [00:22:35]:

As well.

Michele Thorburn [00:22:35]:

So that's awesome. And having helped and mentored a bunch of young people in my life that are pretty much like my children. And same thing with money. Like, how do we navigate if you have a one bedroom and you have 3 kids? Or, you know, what does that look like? So it's been a journey.

Shay Cook [00:22:53]:

Yeah. That's what life is. It's a journey.

Michele Thorburn [00:22:56]:

And there's fear behind it, which a lot of women experience. You know, am I going to be homeless when I retire? That's a huge thing in this culture.

Shay Cook [00:23:05]:

Yeah. Yeah.

Michele Thorburn [00:23:07]:

And I think that's in the back of a lot of our minds. What is that going to look like? How am I going to live if it's just Social Security? And I haven't been able to save.

Shay Cook [00:23:18]:

Exactly.

Michele Thorburn [00:23:18]:

Or I have medical bills.

Shay Cook [00:23:20]:

Exactly. That is so real, Michele, because a lot of people don't understand that Social Security was never supposed to be that one source of income for retirement. I know when I was working for the military, it's like it was either like a three-legged stool that was supposed to be one of the legs, right, of your own investments and then your 401(k) or however you mix that. But, you know, a lot of people only have that one leg of the stool and are like leaning about to fall out, like you said, and it might lean into homelessness or having a family member to take care of them or having to work until they die.

Michele Thorburn [00:23:53]:

Yeah.

Shay Cook [00:23:54]:

Because they don't have the other two legs or they just don't have the support that they need.

Michele Thorburn [00:23:59]:

Yeah. And if you have the capabilities to work until you die, that's fine. And that's what you choose.

Shay Cook [00:24:04]:

Yeah.

Michele Thorburn [00:24:04]:

Yeah. But if you don't, we should be able to be taking care of our people and have them give back.

Shay Cook [00:24:11]:

Yeah.

Michele Thorburn [00:24:12]:

The, the amount of things that we can learn are just incredible. And the nurses that I work with are just, they're another group of godsend.

Shay Cook [00:24:22]:

And you two have had your own journey with taking care of your parents as they were aging? Yeah.

Michele Thorburn [00:24:27]:

Yeah. Oh, I have. My brother was not here when my mother got sick. It was very stressful. It was me and myself. And it was, it was difficult navigating work and taking care of her was just, I don't, sometimes I, I don't know how I managed it.

Shay Cook [00:24:43]:

Oh, wow.

Michele Thorburn [00:24:45]:

And then when my father got sick, I did, he had family and he did have my sister and we would fly back and forth taking turns going to Florida because the two of them had very different life experiences and were completely different and had very, wanted very different things in their death.

Shay Cook [00:25:01]:

Oh, wow.

Michele Thorburn [00:25:03]:

So learning what they need and how to accommodate that. To make them happy in their last moments of life.

Shay Cook [00:25:10]:

Wow.

Michele Thorburn [00:25:11]:

And hospice, God bless hospice.

Shay Cook [00:25:13]:

Yeah. God bless hospice. It's so true.

Michele Thorburn [00:25:16]:

And, and that was also Steve's journey, you know, looking at his parents and Kathy's parents and being like, we can do something. We have to do something in this society to help the elderly.

Shay Cook [00:25:28]:

Oh, and that's how Assisting Hands was formed. Yeah.

Michele Thorburn [00:25:32]:

I mean, we have to do something to help the elderly because If we're the sandwich generation and we're taking care of our kids and having to work 2 and 3 jobs, and it's just not easy.

Shay Cook [00:25:43]:

No, not at all. Not at all.

Michele Thorburn [00:25:46]:

And this culture, these people who come from these cultures, it's just in them because that is their culture.

Shay Cook [00:25:53]:

It's to take care of each other until they die. Yeah. I think America was like that at one time. We kind of lost that, and now we're realizing we're paying the cost. Yeah, literally. Yeah. Because back in the day, it was like, you know, communities of whether whatever culture, they knew they had to take care of their elderly, of their seniors. And then that fell off somewhere.

Michele Thorburn [00:26:14]:

I'm sure there's a timeline out there. Yeah. Then it just became me, myself, and I. And it's—

Shay Cook [00:26:17]:

Exactly. Yeah.

Michele Thorburn [00:26:19]:

And we have such great diversity. I mean, it's— and also being passionate, you know, about DEI, I'm a member of a group that is all that participates all across the US and Canada. And we're still trying to do our work to advocate for equality, the land that we stand on, what did that feel like, who is that? So yeah, a lot of important work.

Shay Cook [00:26:42]:

Yeah. Well, thank you for all of that work because we need more people like you in the world, Michelle, because a lot of people, like you said, there's a lot of selfishness out in the world. And a lot of my husband talks about that a lot. He's like, there's so much selfishness. People just don't care about—

Michele Thorburn [00:26:55]:

No.

Shay Cook [00:26:56]:

People like they used to. And that's why there's so much strife and so much war, so much everything out there, because they're more worried about power and money and themselves.

Michele Thorburn [00:27:05]:

Exactly. And when I first moved here, it was much more cultural and community, like you said. And that has just gone by the wayside. I mean, the world used to say, look how nice Americans are. Who says that now?

Shay Cook [00:27:21]:

We're still nice as them other ones. I worry about going to other countries and how they are going to look at us.

Michele Thorburn [00:27:30]:

For me, traveling to other countries, it's been a blessing because I've traveled the entire world by myself. And the way I look, it's like, well, you're super tall, but you kind of look like us. So it's a perplexing thing, but it's one that it's like, oh, well, she's French or she's this or she's, you know. I've been blessed with being able to travel and feeling comfortable. All these years by myself. And the world and the women have absolutely embraced me.

Shay Cook [00:27:59]:

Oh, I love that.

Michele Thorburn [00:28:01]:

Yeah.

Shay Cook [00:28:01]:

I have to say, I mean, I've traveled all— some by myself, some not, with my husband and, you know, other family members. And too, have been embraced by many cultures that look very different from me. It's just now with the day and time of America. But I think they, they're smart. People are smart. Like you said earlier, they're beautiful people. They're complex. They're complicated, but they know that we don't all represent what they see.

Michele Thorburn [00:28:25]:

And that's what the great thing about having a small world. Hmm. You know, it's not all the same.

Shay Cook [00:28:32]:

Exactly.

Michele Thorburn [00:28:32]:

It's not all what we hear.

Shay Cook [00:28:35]:

Yeah. Yeah, that's so true. All righty. Well, according to a report by PHI, the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute, immigrants make up roughly 25 to 30% of direct care workforce in the United States. Furthermore, many of these essential workers live in low-income households, with nearly half of all direct care workers relying on some form of public assistance. This highlights the vital need for HR leaders like Michele who view fair treatment not as an elective, but a core business and moral requirement. So in the world of home care, we often overlook the sacrifice of people or a person providing the comfort. Michele's conversation reminds us that functional excellence isn't just a paperwork or isn't it just about paperwork.

Shay Cook [00:29:26]:

It's about people. It's about ensuring that the immigrant woman who leaves her own family to care for yours is seen, protected, empowered. And when we lead with the humanitarian philosophy Michele champions at Assisting Hands, we aren't just running a business. We're honoring the divine and dignity of every worker. We are proving that in this house, everyone belongs. So any final thoughts, Michele?

Michele Thorburn [00:29:50]:

No, just to say once again that I feel blessed to have found Assisting Hands, and I think those of us who work there, from the owner to our wonderful caregivers, to our CNA field supervisors, we're just grateful and are here to help our clients who are also very grateful.

Shay Cook [00:30:08]:

Well, thank you so much for joining us. That was amazing. And I have a call to action for all you guys listening today. If you employ or work alongside immigrants, take a moment this week to learn one specific detail about the home culture or their journey to this country. Acknowledging their whole self is the first step toward true belonging. And then pray for strangers among us. Specifically ask for protection and peace for the immigrant caregivers who are balancing the heavy, heavy, heavy emotional toll and labor of home care with the stress of the current socioeconomic environment. So thank you for joining us today.

Shay Cook [00:30:46]:

Thank you, Michele. That was an excellent conversation. I really enjoyed you.

Michele Thorburn [00:30:50]:

Thank you so much for inviting me. I really appreciate it.

Shay Cook [00:30:53]:

Yes, we'll talk to you soon. Have a good day.

Michele Thorburn [00:30:55]:

Thank you, everybody. Bye-bye.

Shay Cook [00:30:58]:

A big thank you for listening to this episode. We hope you found today's chat about the intersection of religion and money insightful. We would love to hear your your feedback. Hit that subscribe button or follow the podcast, and please feel free to leave us a review. For the latest Yahweh's Money content, visit us at Crusaders4Change.org or find us anywhere you listen to podcasts. Until next time, stay financially fit and spiritually inspired, and remember, it's always better Yahweh's way.