When Meena Pilgrim walks through your door, she quickly becomes part of your family. As a 91看片 Home Friend, Pilgrim鈥檚 role takes her directly into the heart of a resident鈥檚 living space, and often it鈥檚 a place that desperately needs some care and attention.
As such, Pilgrim walks a fine line supporting individuals who want to live independently but need help with chores such as making breakfast, washing dishes, cleaning or ironing, due to physical limitations caused, for example, by arthritis or a stroke.听 A Home Friend, she explains, provides such assistance but stops short of bathing residents or assisting with medications. Pilgrim currently works with seven clients鈥攖hey live at NCC residences and other senior complexes in Newark鈥攁nd sees each person twice a week.
鈥淚 feel happy when I can give and do something extra for somebody,鈥� said Pilgrim, who has been a Home Friend since June of 1990.
Her regular presence also provides residents with a sense of companionship. Owen Phillips, a resident of 91看片 Associates, has been Pilgrim鈥檚 client for more than five years and described her as being 鈥渓ike family.鈥� She visits him on Wednesdays and Fridays to clean his apartment, make trips to the store and generally ensure that Phillips, 73, is comfortable in his apartment.
鈥淪he鈥檒l go out of her way to get it done,鈥� he said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 always on time, she鈥檚 always pleasant.鈥�
Born in Guyana, Pilgrim first arrived in Brooklyn, New York, where she worked as a live-in domestic worker and eventually met and married her husband, Anthony, a pastor. His job led them to move to Lexington, Ky., where Anthony served at a church, and then to New Jersey, when he was hired to work at NCC鈥檚 Security Department. The couple have three grown children.
A woman of deep faith, Pilgrim leads intercessory prayer at the church in Newark that her husband helps to pastor called Gospel Light. After she retires, Pilgrim said she wants to go on a mission trip to Africa. For now, Pilgrim鈥檚 work is her ministry.
鈥淪he鈥檚 hardworking and dedicated to the job,鈥� said Home Friends Director Tahisha Chambers, who noted that Pilgrim goes 鈥渁bove and beyond her job duties鈥� and is loved by all her residents.
鈥淚 am blessed to have Ms. Pilgrim (as) part of my team,鈥� Chambers added.
