Franchisee’s Receive Best of Home Care–Employer of Choice Awards

Employer of Choice Award

A Place At Home – Omaha and South Portland received the 2021 Best of Home Care – Employer of Choice Award from Home Care Pulse. The Employer of Choice Award is granted only to the top-ranking home care providers, based on caregiver satisfaction scores gathered by Home Care Pulse, an independent satisfaction research firm for home care. These locations are now ranked among the best employers of in-home caregivers in the region.

“We’re excited to congratulate A Place At Home – Omaha and South Portland for their well-deserved achievements on earning the Best of Home Care – Employer of Choice Award,” says Erik Madsen, CEO of Home Care Pulse. “Since this award is based on employee feedback, it shows the dedication A Place At Home – Omaha and South Portland have to providing their employees with a great working experience, while ensuring clients have well-trained, compassionate caregivers.” 

Best of Home Care – Employer of Choice award-winning providers work with Home Care Pulse to gather feedback from their caregivers via live phone interviews each month. Because Home Care Pulse is an independent company, it is able to collect honest and unbiased feedback.

“Our franchisees work hard to keep a positive working culture and this award demonstrates their commitment to our ‘We are CARE‘ philosophy, not only in regards to their clients but also their caregivers.  We are extremely proud that the Omaha and South Portland franchisees were recognized for their dedication to providing excellent in-home care with professional caregivers,” says Dustin Distefano, CEO of A Place At Home Franchise.

“At Home Care Pulse, our mission is to help home care businesses create an experience that goes beyond client and caregiver expectations,” says Erik Madsen, CEO of Home Care Pulse. “When we see agencies like A Place At Home – Omaha and South Portland that have made an effort to provide an outstanding employment experience, we know we’re on the right track. A Place At Home – Omaha and South Portland have worked extremely hard to provide high-quality care and employment, and their work hasn’t gone unnoticed. This award allows them to provide proof of quality to potential and new clients and caregivers.” 

A Place At Home Honors First-Ever National Caregiver of the Year

2020 Caregiver of the Year

The 2020 Caregiver of the Year went the extra mile in providing exceptional care.

 The 2nd Annual A Place At Home Franchise Convention was held in late September. This event marks a time for franchisees to connect, collaborate, and celebrate the past year. This year also marked the first-ever recognition of the National A Place At Home Caregiver of the Year. Franchisee’s submitted nominations from all over the country for one caregiver that went above and beyond the call of duty, demonstrating an extraordinary commitment to delivering quality care to clients and their families and lives the “We are CARE” philosophy. 

“We received many nominations from all over the country and each one was inspiring. It was difficult to choose just one winner,” said Jerod Evanich, President and Co-Founder of A Place At Home.

However, there was one nomination that painted a detailed picture of how one person went above and beyond the call of duty. The nomination read:

“Dave came on with A Place At Home after decades of working in the insurance business. He wanted to do something more “rewarding” in his 60s. He got his CNA/CMA and began working to make people’s lives better. 

Dave treats all clients like family. He creates a unique bond with each client he works with. He is always on time, never calls out, and makes sure everything is done to his best ability. 

Dave has worked for the past year with a very high acuity client. He instantly bonded with the young client (49) who due to a rare set of circumstances went from a successful businessman to a barely communicative paraplegic overnight. 

He has spent countless hours working as the main caregiver for this client and his family. Not only does he transport the client to his MANY weekly therapy appointments but works one on one with him in his home. Dave is consistently cheering this client on to make his next personal best in his daily bike exercises and always makes notes when a personal best has been reached. 

Dave has worked with therapists at Madonna to learn this client’s individual therapies and continues them at home as well as trains other caregivers working there in how they can help him gain strides. 

When he heard their anniversary was approaching, he took it upon himself to plan a romantic dinner out so the client could surprise his wife. He took the client out to get a card, made reservations at a nice restaurant, planned for a special dessert, and took time out of his off time to transport them over there in the client’s wheelchair van so they could surprise the wife. 

Dave does everything he can to try to relieve some stress off the wife who is also a mother of four and a doctor. Life for her is crazy and Dave makes sure there is always one less thing for her to worry about in his care for the client. Dave’s level of commitment to not only the client but also to our company goes above and beyond anyone I have ever seen.”

Dave walked into A Place At Home – Papillion shortly after they opened their doors in 2019. Dave interviewed for a CNA position and said he was looking for something that would fill his heart. He had retired from insurance and was now searching to do something more meaningful with his time.

“I remember thinking where the heck did this guy fall out of the sky from?” said Rick Perkins, Owner of A Place At Home – Papillion. 

Dave was placed with Don in August of 2019 and the two found an instant connection. They not only share common interests but are also from the same town and attended the same college. It was an unfortunate set of circumstances that brought these two together. But citing six degrees of separation,  Dave said, “There are no coincidences. I’m blessed to be a part of Don’s life.”

As blessed as Dave feels, Don and the A Place At Home team consider themselves equally fortunate to have Dave fulfilling his personal mission: to touch as many lives as possible as a caregiver. 

Dave is firm in his belief that you must have a servant’s heart to work in this industry; you must have empathy, and be able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. It’s this mindset that awarded Dave Caregiver of the Year. While he was happy to be awarded this honor, it’s his internal compass that drives his actions.

“At the end of the day, I lay my head on my pillow, and I know I made a difference.” 

A Place At Home Sells First Corporate-Owned Location

A Place At Home Omaha Owners

A Place At Home – Omaha Has New Franchisee Owners With Local Roots 

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

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 franchisee convention. They’ve cared about the seniors of our community for a long time. 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.

MEET THE NEW OWNERS

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 have been running the Papillion franchise location for over a year now.

“Helping seniors age in their own homes has become a passion for us. The Omaha team has been 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.”

OMAHA’S NEW LOCATIONS

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.

Their new Omaha office location will be at 9829 S 168th Ave, Suite A in 2021. There will be a central satellite office located at Terrace Plaza, 11414 W Center Rd. They will also serve Elkhorn, Fremont, Blair, Wahoo and Gretna. Additionally, Iowa communities of Council Bluffs, Crescent, and Glenwood will also be served.

ABOUT A PLACE AT HOME FRANCHISE

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.” 

“Reaching this major goal of ours. The sale of our original location, means we can now focus solely on the franchise side of the business. We will continue finding great people to make successful owners,” said Jerod Evanich.

To learn more about A Place At Home – Omaha, visit www.APlaceAtHomeOmaha.com. To learn more about franchising opportunities, visit www.APlaceAtHomeFranchise.com, and schedule a time to speak to the development team.

ABOUT A PLACE AT HOME SERVICES

A Place At Home offers a range of senior-focused in-home care services, care coordination, and assistance in identifying and transitioning to senior living alternatives. In addition, the company also offers staffing solutions to senior communities and health offices. A Place At Home is dedicated to caring for seniors so they remain independent and stay in the safety of their own homes.