Live Your Best Life Barefoot
Live Your Best Life Barefoot
EP #23: Taking Care of Your Family with Carrie Neville-Griswold Home Care
Today we talk to Carrie Neville with Griswold Home Care.
Tune in to learn about the services they provide to help you care for a family member.
http://griswoldhomecare.com
239-676-0880
To learn more:
https://barefootbungalowrealty.com/
Barefoot Bungalow Homes
9200 Bonita Beach Rd SE, Suite 100
Bonita Springs, FL 34135
(239) 350-5535
Welcome to the Live Your Best Life Barefoot podcast with your host Mary Mouritsen and the team at Barefoot Bungalow Realty.
Speaker 2:Good morning everyone. And welcome to the next episode of Live Your Best Life Barefoot. I'm here with Ruth today. Hi Mary, how are you? I'm great. How are you? Really good. Good. So excited for our guests today. You wanna take it away? I do. We have today. We have Carrie from Griswold Home Care, and she's gonna tell us about what she does at Griswold Carrie. Welcome.
Speaker 3:Welcome. Thank you. Thank you, Mary. Thank you Ruth thank you, Barefoot Bungalow for hosting me today and, I'm just thrilled to be here and t o partner with these wonderful ladies, th ank y o u i n t h eir, in their home buying and selling experiences for our clients as well as everyone else around Bonita. And, a l i ttle bit about myself. I work for Griswold Home Care. I'm the community liaison, and which basically means I'm out in the community meeting our community partners, our physicians, our hos pitals, discharge planners, cl i ents, anyone who needs home care, which could be, re a lly anybody, any client, any tim e of course. And you know, we give people the help they need in their homes, so they can stay in their homes or if they' re need ing at so me point in time to sell their home and go into a se nior living facility or a senior living community, of course these gals are perfect for, sel l ing or buying a new home or buying into a community that you have to buy in. So, you kn ow, we help discuss all the care options, moving options, so t h at t hey can live in whatev er place it is that they love and th ey wanna age i n place without, with o ut any hurdles. So yeah, so that's kind o f, w e d o, we're committed to helping people, to s t ay safe and happy at home. Carrie,
Speaker 2:Do you, do you only work with elderly or is it anybody who like somebody of my age, which I am elderly, but
Speaker 3:It hasn't, it's
Speaker 2:Getting younger. All it's getting younger every day,
Speaker 3:18 and over we, our clients can be young, have had some injury in their life, or they were always, in a state where they needed somebody, some help. We have a client on Marco, she's a younger gal and, l ives with her fa mily, but needs a liv ing ca regiver so that she can, l i ve independently on her own and her own wing of her house, which is beautiful. And we provide two hour care for those meeti ngs, say b ath s or help, jus t getting ready in the morning or going to bed at night as, as w ell as 24 7, live in car eg ivers. It depends on what they need. So we specialize in, you know, find i ng the right caregiver for the right client and the client is always in control of their schedule. There's no set schedule and there's just a two hour m inim um per day. So we have a lot of different options for them. We provide support for all, all the little things they need in their home, as far as any kind of home making, we can change the big linens on the beds, which are sometimes really hard for the elderly. Do the laundry, run and get their groceries, their prescriptions, their run do their errands, we can provide companionship, especially for those clients that have memory issues. They need somebody with t hem all the time, you know, reintroducing, you know the current life, activities, an d a nywhere to p ersonal care, you know, bathing, dressing, changing adult briefs, et c e tera, t o those clients that are needing a little more help, a l ong the way. So kind of a little bit or a lot, depending on w ha t the client needs. That's nice. That
Speaker 4:Is nice. I wanna revisit that community liaison bit, because I think, your abilities and your knowledge and your, connections in the community are tied up in that title. Tell us a little bit about what brought you to here
Speaker 3:In your career. Sure. Well, my background is I'm a nursing home administrator by, by license and by degree, of course. And that started a long time ago when I was young. And, so I've always been in the geriatric field before it was even popular, you know? So I started here in Minnesota and in Florida. And then when I had children, I stayed home for a while. And then I got back into the workforce again when they were older and then, and I always was in, you know, the health field and then we moved back and then we were in Florida here in Naples, and I joined Griswold Home Care, as their manager and helped to open this office here 10 years ago. And then my husband got transferred to Nashville. So we lived in Nashville, the it city for love Nashville for yeah. For a few years. And, and then when we were coming back, so he could work remotely, I came back to Griswold. So then I full circle I'm back back helping the seniors. Yes, exactly. Yes. Very nice.
Speaker 4:Yes. And you have so many, great connections in the community. It's fun cuz we're downstairs from you guys. So we get to see your coming and goings and I'm really impressed with the people and the connections that you have.
Speaker 3:Well, well thank you. And I hope those connections and those people can, tie in with your, with your ability to buy and sell homes and, you know, referring is what we do during all the community partners, I refer to them, they refer to me and we develop relationships so that I can just call people and hand it over and say, they'll take good care of you. And that's it. So, like for example, if, I have a client who needs physical therapy, then I will refer them to the one that I know I can say, take it and run with it and they'll take care of you and they'll follow through j ust like if I knew somebody needed, to buy or sell a home, I have wonderful gals right below me and they'll take care of you. And I can, you know, say, okay, this is it. They'll take care of it. And th ey'll, I'll feel great abo ut it and th ey'll be done. So that's kind, and my goal is to develop those relationships that, tha t I know that I can trust and they know they can trust us. That's huge.
Speaker 4:It makes a big difference and it makes a big difference to the clients, you know, putting your trust in one person, but then there's always more that you need. So
Speaker 3:That's huge. Well, and if they need a, you know, and like I say, because now there's always a caregiver shortage. You can, you can sign up with two, three different agencies. And so that we don't, I can be someone's backup or they can be our backup. It's not a problem. That's, that's a great idea. You don't have to just go with one person. You can go with as many as you want and I will steer you in the right direction for the, you know, for the right ones. But it is, it's very important if it was my mom needing help, I would say, you know, check with a few, sign up with a few. We don't mind. We're happy to happy to be, in the mix. That's
Speaker 2:A very good, you know, and that's something that's different about Florida too is because my dad lives in Ohio. And when he was, when he got out the hospital, he had a procedure done and I was trying to get a senior care just to come and take care of him just a couple hours a day. Couldn't find one, couldn't find anything. Yeah. Where here, I mean, you guys really cater to the senior life here and you really wanna help them and find whatever they need. You can call in, you can call you guys there's so many care facilities that will help them, it's it's unbelievable.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I would say there's about 60 home care agencies in about a 60 mile radius. So there, see, that's a lot. That's amazing. Yeah. So there's usually help when you need it. It's finding the good help. And we're only as good as the caregiver that we send. And the beauty of it is, is that if for some reason our client doesn't like the caregiver or they don't, they're not meshing, then just call us. We, we take them out, will put somebody else in, so they don't have to do any of the HR. Oh. So that is really nice. Yeah. They don't have to speak to them and you know, that uncomfortableness of trying to, you know, hire and fire,
Speaker 2:They call you and say, oh, I'm not
Speaker 3:Really clicking with this one. Yeah, exactly. So, you know, everybody's not for everyone. So yeah,
Speaker 2:Definitely just
Speaker 3:Like every home is for every person, not like it's insulting that they don't choose that property. Right. Right. But you're gonna find them a better one. I c ould tell y ou. Exactly. Right. R ight. So
Speaker 4:Do you have a tip for our listeners that that comes to mind?
Speaker 3:Well, I would say definitely do your homework. And like I said, you know, you're only as good as a caregiver you send and, Griswold Home Care has been in existence for almost 40 years now. They opened in 1982. Gene Griswold, was a geriatric counselor. Her husband was a Presbyterian minister and he, and they had a parishioner in their church who she actually passed away because, u m, no one was there to check on her a nd check on her vitals. So J ean a s w ell, and her girlfriends started a volunteer group to check on all the elderly in their area in Pennsylvania and it became this. And it was in such demand that they used t o s tarted t he first home c are company in the country. And, a nd it's grown t o over 300 locations in over 30 states. W ow. I didn't k now t hat you're looking for experience and knowing what to do. And when it can,
Speaker 4:I love that story cuz you get a vision of what their vision is like. It comes from the heart of caring and, and really want wanting to take care and fill a real,
Speaker 3:Real, huge need, huge need, huge need. And there's also the gene Griswold foundation which donates, money and resources to seniors in need, all over the country. And every year we give out thousands of dollar worth of, scholarships and grants to nonprofits. I think last year we did the Harry Chapin food bank for seniors. So if anybody listening has a nonprofit that they would like that they help the seniors in our community, they can apply with the Griswold foundation that's and then with our endorsement, then they're reviewed by the committee and they can apply year after year. And so that's a really good, how do they apply for that? Do they agree through, Jean Griswold foundation.com. Yeah. that's Jean Yeah. J E A N and then Griswold foundation.com. Awesome. and you can research it, and they'll tell you all about it, where it goes. And we have a new program this coming year. I think it started, just before the change of the year for the caregivers as well, caregivers in need of help, with their education trying t o so they can get scholarships better t hemselves. Y es. So that's a new part of Jean Griswolds legacy that l ives o n t hat's h uge. Y eah. Yeah.
Speaker 4:So that's what way to see a need and fill
Speaker 3:It right. Yeah, exactly. And it just follows through for years and years now. And since they're passing, that's amazing.
Speaker 4:That's really nice.
Speaker 3:How about any personal places you like to go to in Southwest Florida? Oh, I love all. I love all of south Southwest Florida. I love all of Bonita of course. And living in Naples. I love the Naples area. It's fun to be on boats and go up to Fort Myers. You know, love the water and, lo ve r eally love all of Southwest. Wh at d o yo u u sually when somebody comes to visit, where do you usually take th em? Oh, to the beach of course. An d r e al b e ach b e ach i s a big one. Downtown Naples is a big one. Docs on Bonita beach is always our favorite when we, someone comes in off the airport. Um, I love the, a s t erile a rea with, u m, t he coconut point mm-hmm< a ffirmative> e verybody loves to shop there. There's a T o mmy B ahamas and um, t hat's always a favorite. Um, t here's always something. Yeah. My grandkids love the zoo. The Na ples z oo. No, I l ove the zoo. The Gano children's museum is one of their favorites. The water pa rk, you know, with th e, with the la zy r iver is a lways a good one. Even my 85 ye ar o l d m om. It's t he lazy river.<l augh>
Speaker 4:That's awesome.
Speaker 3:Neither. Oh, it's in the north Naples park right off of moley in Livingston. Really?
Speaker 4:That's a good tip. Oh, it there you, it's a great, that's an
Speaker 3:Unknown. We didn't know about that. No, it's a great, um, yeah, it's a great water park. That's awesome. It just got remodeled and redone last year. So it'll be open probably spring break or maybe summer early summer. I don't know when they open, but it's a fun place to go for families.
Speaker 4:That's fun. Really fun. That's so we tend to get off on tangents. Is there anything that we didn't touch on that you'd like to throw out there before we well sign off, let's see our
Speaker 3:Caregivers of course are, um, our carefully screen, their level two B background checked, fingerprinted all their licensure, their certification. If their CNAs through the state of Florida or whatever state they were licensed in, if their home health aids, their certification, where they got their training from which schools we double check it, we actually call the schools. We make sure that we get the, the, you know, cause anyone can print a cert certifi of, um, a certificate nowadays. So we, um, we don't just take it by their word. We, we verify it when it was last done that their, their statement that they're free of communicable disease from their physician, their driver's license, uh, their insurance E everything is double checked, triple checked, and it's done every year. So, um, that's awesome. So no matter where they lived in the<affirmative> in the world, not even just in the country or the county, um, we've got,'em covered. We, we check'em so, um, cause a lot of the caregivers come from other parts of the mm-hmm<affirmative> mm-hmm<affirmative> from other parts or the islands, but that doesn't mean that we don't, um, check where they came from. So that's really good. So they've been, so they've been screened no matter what and where, but um, we always make sure that if we trust them in our homes, then we would trust them in, in someone else's. So, um, that's kind of how it is, you know,
Speaker 4:Wonderful. And being again, being downstairs, we've noticed that there's a high quality, like they're high caliber people we've we've gotten to know them. Yeah. And, um, we've gotten to know Max's yes. The neighborhood dog. Yes. That we get treat you now. Yeah. They, they really, I mean, you go out and serve the community, but you're also part of our community here. And you can tell that by the, those, uh, caregivers and people that work
Speaker 3:With you. So thank you. Thank you. And we're just always impressed with, with your office and your, uh, you know, up your, your friendliness and your you're always, you know, willing to help. And, um, um, just how passionate you are about selling and buying Southwest Florida. So we are happy to partner with you and, um, give you lots of referrals and um, um, cuz we do have a lot of people that move around and come from the north, come back and forth and then decide they, they love it so much here that they're gonna stay in Southwest Florida. It
Speaker 4:Doesn't, it's good. It's good to have, um, community. Right.
Speaker 3:Exactly. Exactly. So marrying Ruth have been wonderful and thanks to, um, part of our, uh, office complex, which is, um, is really nice. Yes.
Speaker 4:Yes. Well thank you for being on with us today. It's been great visiting with you. Very pleasure. Love it. That's great. And um, we want to give you the information to get to you again, what's the best, um, contact him information.
Speaker 3:Our phone number is, um,(239) 676-6440. Um, of course you can, um, always Google our phone number, but we're here right here in Bonita Springs. Um, and um, a quick phone call. They can always reach us. There's always someone a call 24, 7 night holidays, weekends. And um, and if we don't answer our answering service patches through to the person that's on call, it's usually Sarah and um, then you'll get one on one personal attention. So no matter when you need help day or night, there's always somebody available. That's awesome.
Speaker 4:Yeah, that is really good. And as always you can get a hold of us@barefootbungalowhomes.com or our phone number is(239) 350-5535. If there is something or someone you'd like us to talk about, please make sure and let us know that too. You can reach out also on Facebook or email at info at barefoot bungalow homes dot. So we're gonna close out this episode. Thank you again, Carrie. Thank you
Speaker 3:Carrie. You pleasure. Thank you, Mary. And thank you, uh, barefoot bungalow. And like I said, we're just happy to be a partner. It's
Speaker 4:Fabulous. And we wanna remind you to live live your best life
Speaker 1:Barefoot. Thank you for listening to the live, your best life barefoot podcast sponsor by barefoot bungalow Realty. To learn more about barefoot bungalow Realty, go to www.barefootbungalowrealty.com or call 2 3 9 3 5 0 5 5 3 5.