A Place At Home Sells First Corporate-Owned Location to Local Franchisee

Omaha-based A Place At Home is now 100% franchisee-owned.

The day before the 2nd Annual A Place At Home Franchise Convention, A Place At Home Franchise sold its original Omaha location to Papillion franchisees, Rick and Kris Perkins.

“I can’t think of a better match for our Omaha-location than Kris and Rick. They won our 2020 Rookie of the Year award at this year’s convention, they’ve cared about the seniors of our community for a long time, and I am completely confident in their ability to take over Omaha operations. The staff loves them, we love them, it was a perfect match,” said Dustin Distefano, CEO and Co-Founder of A Place At Home.

Rick is a former counselor and manager who spent 20 years with Child and Adult Protective Services. He also served as Program Coordinator for the Juvenile Assessment Center. Kris is a former 911 dispatcher and EMT. She also worked in sales and deployment roles for Motorola Solutions, Inc., where she deployed public safety software across the United States. This husband-and-wife team has been running the Papillion franchise location for over a year now.

“Helping seniors age in their own homes has become a passion for us, and the Omaha team has been so wonderful to work with during this transition,” Kris says.

“We understand enlisting the help of professionals to care for loved ones is a tough decision to make,” said Rick. “We want the Omaha community to know we’ll treat your family like we’d treat our own family. And we want to ease the stress of the transition to an assisted living community when the time comes.”

The Papillion franchise office is located at 10791 S. 72nd St., Suite #104, and serves Bellevue, Offutt, Ralston, Chalco, La Vista, Council Bluffs, and Center Lake. The Perkins will establish the new Omaha location at 9829 S 168th Ave, Suite A in 2021. They will also have a central satellite office at Terrace Plaza, 11414 W Center Rd. They will also serve Elkhorn, Fremont, Blair, Wahoo, and Gretna and the Iowa communities of Council Bluffs, Crescent, and Glenwood.

To A Place At Home co-founders, Jerod Evanich and Dustin Distefano, awarding franchises to the right people is an important part of fulfilling their mission:

“To be passionate professionals providing the compassionate care solutions you need, when and where you need us.”

If you or someone you love needs care in their home, contact us today!

Caregiver Studying to be Neurosurgeon: Marcos Lopez

Marcos Lopez was named caregiver of the month for December.

Moving from Grand Island, Nebraska to Omaha in 2017, Marcos began his field of study in neuroscience, minoring in Physics and Chemistry at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

Marcos’ family doesn’t come from a medical background, but his father did inspire him to always be curious. “He said it’s good to learn a little about everything. He liked to help people. It didn’t matter what it was. He was always trying to help someone else out,” said Marcos.

Since 2018, Marcos has been impacting the lives of our clients by helping them age gracefully in the comfort of their own home. His three years of education have made him a very effective professional caregiver, but it will also aid him in how he approaches his future patients as a Neurosurgeon

“I like all my clients. They say interesting things sometimes and it sticks. I go to classes or other shifts and use what I learn. They also tell me to live my life and enjoy every moment.”

Students in the medical field working as caregivers are perhaps some of the most prepared professionals in the field. Marcos advised his peers to also consider becoming a caregiver. “It’s good to get out there and work anything medical. I know people that haven’t worked in this field and they try to get into med school, and they won’t let them since they don’t have the experience, or they end up not liking the work.”

Balancing a work and class schedule is hard, especially in a challenging program like neuroscience. Marcos said it’s helped him learn to manage his time better. “Med school is not easy. There’s a lot to do but [A Place At Home] is really flexible so I can decide what time I can work and then make sure I get studying done for school.”

Marcos enjoys his job as a caregiver, sharing, “I think that everyone deserves to live their life without an obstacle stopping them. I think its good to be able to help them out so they can live their life.”

Are you a student looking for an opportunity to gain more experience in the healthcare industry? Consider becoming a caregiver and apply to join our team today.