“Catherine Goes to” …
Good-Bye Party at Artist Chat with Jill Krutick
Westchester Family Care said farewell to Catherine Lanza at a special ZOOM Artist Chat with Jill Krutick. Jill is a local artist with an international clientele and is WFC’s across-the-street art gallery neighbor in Mamaroneck.
We all ZOOM’d in to honor Catherine, our Director of Business Development, on her move to a new role at Home Care of the Rockies in Boulder, Colorado. In addition to the career opportunity, Catherine is undertaking this relocation to make a post-COVID quality-of-life change and to be closer to one of her adult daughters.
Jill took us through her virtual portfolio and her interesting journey in becoming an artist with a solo gallery and museum shows.
She has generously offered to donate any proceeds from the Artist Chat to the Parkinson’s Foundation in memory of Priscilla S., a special WFC client we lost last week and is featured in our latest Client Story (see below.)
Jill’s Website
Jill Krutick – Mini Doc
Virtual Exhibition – Sizzle
Jill Krutick’s Video Page
Etsy Page
Artsy Page
Home Art Curation – Promo Video
Remembering Priscilla S., an Outstanding WFC Client
WFC recently lost a dear client who was a vibrant and dynamic person and was on service while living in a partner senior care facility. She was adored by caregivers and reminded us of the reason we got into home care. She touched us in ways that we’ll remember for a long time, and we’d like to share her story from a place of deep appreciation and love. To learn more about Priscilla S.’s story, click here.
Celebrating Kenneth Thompson, Home Care Coordinator
Our newest Staff Story celebrates Kenneth Thompson who been with us since we opened our doors in 2015. Kenneth has been in the home care industry for over thirty years where he started as a Home Health Aide. At Westchester Family Care, Kenneth has played a foundational role in defining WFC’s precise coordination between caregivers and clients, drawing on his superb skillset to manage the sensitive task of caregiver/client coordination. To learn more about Kenneth’s story, click here.
Catherine Nurses a Home Back to Life with Love
While her role at WFC has been to market and develop business for the agency, one of Catherine’s greatest life accomplishments has been to earn her LPN license.
For her swan song, Catherine will be departing after fulfilling an ailing client’s wish to spend end-of-days in her home and thereby nursing the client’s home back to life from the trash heap. It is a story worthy of all the poignance about what makes working at WFC so special and why Catherine will be sorely missed.
Here’s Catherine’s account, in her own words:
At the beginning of July, I received a call from a local Geriatric Care Manager. She had an unusual project for me, and I LOVE unusual projects!
An elderly woman, which lives in a nearby adult living community, would like to come home to spend her last days in the home she shared with her parents. There was only one thing preventing her to do that, the house was not livable. I was introduced to her Power of Attorney, and we got started on making the house a beautiful place to come home to. Here is the punch list we put together to get the work done:
- We would need a de-clutterer and organizer, with whom you would work closely.
- The home and carpets would need a deep clean.
- An electrician would have to come in and re-wire where needed.
- The home would have to be painted.
- The drapes/blinds would have to be either replaced or cleaned
- A new bed would be ordered and set up downstairs/commode nearby.
- A stair chair would be installed to go up to the 2nd floor.
- A renovation to the bathtub on the 2nd floor to make it easily accessible.
- Food that is salvageable would be donated.
- An air conditioner would be installed.
- Lawn service would be hired.
- The kitchen would need additional outlets, new linoleum, and light fixtures.
- All clothes laundered and organized.
- New bedroom furniture was ergonomically suitable for Dorothy.
- A modular ramp and deck to the front door.
So far, everything has been done, next week is the electrical work, and the Medical equipment, the owner has to approve. We are so happy to have been a part of this project.
“Before” Pictures:
“After” Pictures:
Restarting Our In-Person HHA Certification Classes
The pandemic has had an unintended positive effect of motivating us to move our training classes to the virtual ZOOM platform. This has been spectacularly successful for HHA’s who need recurrency / continuing education training to keep their certification updated and for CNA’s interested in adding HHA training to their qualifications. Thanks to our training staff and all the caregivers who helped make this transition from in-person to virtual training a win-win for everybody.
We are happy to announce that we are conducting our first Fall class of HHA in-person training this week. This class typically works for those healthcare workers seeking HHA certification for the first time and it does require in-person learning.
In-home care is on an upward trend, and we have seen an influx of people seeking to expand their career opportunities by becoming a New York State Certified Home Health Aide. This is especially evident among those interested in making a career change because they’ve been displaced by COVID, including professionals from the restaurant/airlines/retail industries and others who had made their living working in a brick & mortar setting.
These classes are the foundation for such a career change and we welcome these displaced professionals to in-home caregiving. Please check out our Careers webpage for more details.
Westchester Family Care Inc. assists people of all ages, by customizing home care plans to maintain healthy quality of life and safety at home.
Contact WFC for an immediate family need or when planning for future needs: info@westfamilycare.com, (914) 764-7500, www.westchesterfamilycare.com.
Westchester Family Care Provides Peace of Mind and Confidence that the Elderly Are Safe and Living with Dignity in Their Own Home.