By Rod Bacon
It’s a fact of life that as people age they often lose the ability to perform the daily tasks they once could. It’s also a fact that one’s home is what provides the greatest amount of comfort and peace of mind when dealing with life’s challenges.
Home Instead, founded in 1994 in Omaha, Nebraska, by Paul and Lori Hogan, is a non-medical senior care company with over 1,200 franchised locations in the United States and abroad.
In 2000, Nelson Carpenter, who had retired from a 33-year career in both the public and private sectors, became a Home Instead franchisee when he opened an office in Gansevoort serving Saratoga, Warren and Washington counties.
“He researched home care companies and decided Home Instead was the best one with which to partner,” said his daughter, Maureen Hopkins, R.N., general manager and co-owner. “I came on board later to help out in the office for a while, discovered I loved it and never left.”
Carpenter was director of employee health benefits for the New York City Mayor’s Office of Labor Relations and later deputy director of the New York State Governor’s Office of Employee Relations. In the private sector he served as vice president of Value Health, Inc. and national vice president of Prudential Healthcare.
After moving to the area he served on the board of directors of the Senior Center of Saratoga Springs, the Visiting Nurse Services Foundation of Schenectady and Saratoga Springs, and the Alzheimer’s Association of Northeastern NY.
Hopkins is a 2002 graduate of the University of Maryland. Prior to joining Home Instead she worked in Manhattan as an event planner, a public relations associate, and an elf in the Lord and Taylor window during the holiday season. She also spent time in Maui, where she developed a passion for scuba diving.
She noted that it is extremely gratifying to get calls from the sons and daughters of clients telling her they don’t know what they would do without Home Instead.
“I think we really make a positive impact on the community,” she said.
According to the New York State Department of Financial Services, the annual cost of care in a nursing home is approximately $159,000 per person while home care averages approximately $66,000 per person annually.
Currently, the Gansevoort office has 93 trained caregivers providing services to 82 clients in the tri-county region. Caregivers generally live within a 20-30 minute drive of the people they serve.
Compassionate in-home care is provided to those dealing with Alzheimer’s and Dementia, chronic illness, and hospice needs. There are also transportation, companionship, and home helper services.
Formal training is not required to become a caregiver, but they are instructed in-house about how to keep themselves and the clients safe, and how to form relationships that are specific to the client’s needs. There is also specialized training for Alzheimer’s patients, those suffering from arthritis, or those needing hospice care.
Caregivers earn $38 per hour on weekdays and $41 per hour on weekends. If they are caring for a couple they earn $6 more per hour.
There are several ways Home Instead supports the community, one of which is Be A Santa To A Senior. They have participated in this initiative for the past 20 years. They get names from local agencies like the Office for the Aging and lower income housing projects, and provide what Hopkins describes as “holiday cheer.”
“The recipients are either financially needy or socially isolated, and almost always they’re both,” she said.
In addition, Home Instead is a sponsor of the Alzheimer’s Association’s fall block event. They also conduct training sessions at area senior centers.
While word-of-mouth garners the majority of their clients, they do visit hospitals and rehabilitation facilities to explain the benefits of in-home care.
Support staff at the Gansevoort facility includes Maria Spagnnola, community relations director; Laurie Glogowski, client care manager; Marsha Scotti, client care manager; Susan Clayton, recruitment and engagement coordinator; Georgia Scaringe, bookkeeper; and Griffin, official greeter, a mixed-breed rescue that loves to meet new caregivers and get treats and rubber balls from staff.
Home Instead is located at 12 Mountain Ledge Drive, Suite 3, in Gansevoort.
For further information about how Home Instead can provide compassionate care for your loved ones, go to homeinstead/gansevoortny.com.