Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother's Day poem by Guillermo PeñaWe love this poignant poem and dedicate it to all our lovely mothers and their caring daughters.

A Letter from a Mother to Her Daughter

“My dear girl, the day you see I’m getting old, I ask you to please be patient, but most of all, try to understand what I’m going through. If when we talk, I repeat the same thing a thousand times, don’t interrupt to say: “You said the same thing a minute ago”… Just listen, please. Try to remember the times when you were little and I would read the same story night after night until you would fall asleep.

When I don’t want to take a bath, don’t be mad and don’t embarrass me. Remember when I had to run after you making excuses and trying to get you to take a shower when you were just a girl?

When you see how ignorant I am when it comes to new technology, give me the time to learn and don’t look at me that way… remember, honey, I patiently taught you how to do many things like eating appropriately, getting dressed, combing your hair and dealing with life’s issues every day…the day you see I’m getting old, I ask you to please be patient, but most of all, try to understand what I’m going through.

If I occasionally lose track of what we’re talking about, give me the time to remember, and if I can’t, don’t be nervous, impatient or arrogant. Just know in your heart that the most important thing for me is to be with you.

And when my old, tired legs don’t let me move as quickly as before, give me your hand the same way that I offered mine to you when you first walked. When those days come, don’t feel sad… just be with me, and understand me while I get to the end of my life with love. I’ll cherish and thank you for the gift of time and joy we shared. With a big smile and the huge love I’ve always had for you, I just want to say, I love you… my darling daughter. “

Original text in Spanish and photo by Guillermo Peña
Translation to English by Sergio Cadena

Top 3 Things Clients Say About US

Clients' reviews of North Oakland Caregivers in a word cloudOur clients have been generous with sharing their opinions about North Oakland Caregivers’ services, and we have felt grateful for that. After all, clients’ reviews have been our best recommendation for years!

This time, however, we got curious about specifics. What do our clients’ reviews have in common and what do they highlight the most? To find this out, we put all of our clients’ reviews in a word cloud program and the result was striking! If you remember how word clouds work, they make the words used most frequently bigger, so that they stand out more. And these were the top three words we saw:

I. CARE

This word stands for what we do – we take care of our clients’ daily needs. However, it also reflects how we do it – with care. And, while “CARE” as the most used word in our clients’ reviews was rewarding by itself, it got even better. We noticed that the top descriptions paired with it were “WONDERFUL”, “PROFESSIONAL”, and “COMPASSIONATE”. And we think it speaks volumes about the quality of service we and our caregivers provide!

II. JASON

Speaking about the quality of service, we also noticed people mentioned “JASON” quite a bit. What a glowing endorsement of the dedication that our Vice-President, Jason Lambart, puts into his daily interactions with clients! Together with his team, he makes sure any clients’ issues are addressed immediately, and new clients receive individualized advice and a support program proposal. Jason’s level of commitment and reliability provide the reassurance our clients seek as they trust us with the well-being of their loved ones.

III. CAREGIVER & RECOMMEND

The next words people used most often in their reviews were “CAREGIVER” and “RECOMMEND”. These are two words, not one, but we mentioned them together for a couple of reasons. First, the same size of these words suggests that clients used them with similar frequency, so, they share our third position for this reason. Second, both the company and the caregivers serve our clients’ interests to the best of their ability, and it looks like our clients notice and recommend both, the company and their caregivers.

We feel grateful and humbled by this show of consistent appreciation ❤ 

And if you came here looking for clients’ reviews, we hope you feel reassured. If so, please give us a call and see for yourself whether our “CARE” that worked for many of our clients can work for your family, too!

New Year’s Resolutions and Senior Home Care

Senior Home Care with North Oakland Caregivers - smiling senior mother and daughterJanuary traditionally triggers us to think about New Year’s resolutions. It just seems easier to create a new habit, make a big change for the better, and reinvent yourself at the beginning of a new year! Many people use the first months of the year to start something significant that will make a lasting impact on their lives. But this may also be the right time to make a lasting impact on the life of your senior family member, too. For example, taking a step towards planning for the future of your older mom or dad who may need assistance in their daily activities. The idea may feel daunting at the beginning but we are here to help. Today we share tips that come from years of our senior home care experience.

We know some seniors may not be immediately open to the idea of having a caregiver coming into their home to help them.  A perceived fear of loss of independence or temporary anxiety of having a “stranger” in the house might overshadow great long-term benefits.  Seniors can respond with resistance in many different ways. Frankly, family members might have their own concerns about how this new arrangement might work.

We understand. Every change requires an adjustment. Our experience has shown that slowly easing into this new “caregiver” scenario is often all it takes to relieve the concerns of starting a home care routine for your senior loved one.  Maybe having a caregiver come into their home once or twice a week just to give them an idea of what it’s all about might help alleviate their anxiety.  Or, maybe, one 8-hour day a week will do the trick. Maybe 4 hours a day, 2-3 days a week will help set a comfort level!  The key is starting small and adjusting to what the future needs will be.

Having a senior home care provider that is flexible enough to allow time to find the perfect routine for your senior loved one is a great solution.  North Oakland Caregivers at Clarkston, MI, has been doing it for 30+ years. We are waiting for your call. Are you ready to make the first step towards the New Year’s resolution that will make a lasting impact on the future of your family?

Caregiving Makes a Difference

Family celebrating holidaysIn our busy days throughout the year, it is very easy to forget or to let time pass by, without appreciating all the things that made your life a little better that put a smile on your face.  The holiday season traditionally helps us pause, observe and reflect. So, we thought it was a perfect occasion to share how caregiving touches lives – small acts of kindness bringing a big impact.

Our clients often give our caregivers the highest praise in their reviews. However, the little note below was different. It was sent directly to a caregiver from one of our clients showing her appreciation. We publish it with their permission:

“Hi, Vickie.  Hope all is well.  Sorry, it took so long to get back with you but “life” has been quite busy after my mom’s passing. (My brother and cousin were diagnosed with terminal cancer & uncle with dementia).   I can not thank you enough for sharing in my mom’s transition. You are truly a blessing to your patients.  I have been thinking about going into caregiving (for my family members) but not sure if I am able to handle such a delicate profession.  You are amazing for what you do.“

We wholeheartedly agree – our caregivers are amazing at making difficult times easy, turning fear and stress into human connection, and making this world better overall.

Sending warm wishes this Holiday Season!

How to Choose the Right Home Care

Senior couple making home care choicesChoosing a home care company for your loved ones can be stressful. How to find the “right” people? Who to turn to for a recommendation?

There might be many approaches to the search but we recently came across the one we really liked, and we decided to share it with you.

It all started with one of us looking for a provider from a completely different industry for their personal needs.  They come across an expert rating of such providers in their location, and the system of rating made a lot of sense to them. It was simple, factual, and credible because anyone could use the same criteria and arrive at the same results.

They used only two main criteria – Reputation and Experience because both of them can be easily researched by anyone. Reputation is based on customer reviews – many delighted customers and outstanding service lead to 5-star ratings. And the more people shaped that rating, the more reliable it is. Experience identifies masters of their trade based on years of being in business. After all, if you stay around for a long time, you must be doing something right!

You can apply this approach to any of your searches for the right provider. But, of course, our first thought was to check how it applies to the North Oakland Caregivers. And we passed this test with flying colors!

1. REPUTATION – 5-STAR REVIEWS
    • We are proud to have 5-star reviews on Google, Facebook, and our website. We consider this our best recommendation as the words of appreciation are coming directly from our clients’ experience.
    • These outstanding reviews are testimony to our human touch that comes from our hearts, not our duties. We know all our clients personally, we call them to just ask how they are doing, and we stop by when we can. We like it when it feels like a family.
2. EXPERIENCE – 30 YEARS IN BUSINESS
    • 30 years of home care experience means we have withstood the test of time and are not going anywhere
    • It also means we have gathered great expertise in the field of home care and in the understanding of what seniors and their families look for

So, there you have it. Now you’ve got an approach to assess any provider you are considering hiring, and in case you are looking for a caregiving company, you might want to include North Oakland Caregivers in your shortlist since we pass the test by the above criteria and more. So, we hope you give us a call, and we could discuss your family’s specific needs, and how we can help and be the “right” home care provider for your loved ones.