They may be surprised to learn that Baker juggled many of these responsibilities while caring for her late husband, Chris, as he battled a terminal illness for 16 years.
Taking care of a loved one with cancer and working full-time was difficult, Baker said. “My husband was also disabled from brain tumor surgery, so I had to help him read, write, walk and remember while managing the household.”
Baker worked with her manager to coordinate schedules and get approval to telework so she could work on her husband’s medical appointments and procedures. She also took medical leave in 2020 when her husband entered hospice care. Baker said her manager’s flexibility “saved her job” and allowed her to keep up with her family’s needs. She even managed to advance from project engineer to test director to project manager during this period.
Baker is one of many Johnson employees who are or have been caregivers for a loved one. These caregivers provide support to a person who often has a medical condition or injury that affects their daily functioning. Their needs may be temporary or long-term, and may be physical, medical, financial, or domestic in nature.
Recognizing the challenging and important role caregivers play in their families, Johnson Community provides a variety of resources to support team members through the Employee Assistance Program. Additionally, Johnson’s No Boundaries Employee Resource Group (NoBo) supports caregivers through its programs and initiatives.
Baker participates in both support group and NoBo activities and finds comfort in sharing her and her husband’s story with others. “I would do it all over again,” she said of her caregiving role.
Now she’s looking forward to future missions to the moon, when NASA astronauts will take spacewalks on the surface of the moon wearing the new spacesuits. “Then I can say I helped make it possible!” Through all of his experiences, Baker has learned to never give up. “If you have a dream, keep fighting for it,” he said.