Michael, Brian, and Richard Goorevich
5 Star Endorsement for Senior Solutions:
I would like to take a moment to share some thoughts about Barbara Bellman, Heather Carson and the staff at Senior Solutions. They came into our family’s life at a pivotal moment as our father transitioned from being fully independent to needing assistance with most of his daily personal care needs. The transition came quickly for my father who was suffering from a stroke, early stage dementia and Parkinsons. We were fortunate to find Senior Solutions at that time as we were totally unfamiliar and unprepared with how to manage this stage in my fathers life. Never having needed assistance before we were all very skeptical of the process, uncertain of the level of care needed and who was available to help fill this gap. My parents insisted that outside help wasn’t necessary and that they would not be comfortable with it. But after several late night falls and trips to the emergency room, I finally reached out to Barbara. We spoke for almost an hour though it only took her a few minutes to convince me of the heart and mission of Senior Solutions. I had so many questions and she was patient and helpful answering all of them, sharing her own personal experience with her parents and their care needs. Her vision was a care service that filled the (very big) gap between independent living and formalized assisted living / nursing care. After a week of talking it over, we chose to move forward with Senior Solutions for my father. In stepped Heather Carson who picked up right where Barbara left off. Again, her patience and thoughtfulness put us at ease right away. It was clear from the beginning how hard Heather worked to provide us the level of care and communication that we were hoping for. While we knew they had many clients to serve and were very busy, we always felt important and heard. There was nothing institutional or routine about how they approached us and it didn’t take long for my parents to adjust to and welcome the help. My father had never asked anyone other than my mother for help before and very suddenly, strangers were assisting him with toileting, showering and other very personal and private moments. Still it didn’t take long for my parents to come around to welcoming the new assistance. In stepped Vicky, Ben and Nancy, each helping to assist my father daily with these tasks in addition to driving them to doctors appointments, going to lunch, helping with laundry, dishes, cleanup and assisting him with his physical therapy ‘homework’. While their assistance was directed towards my father, their presence was a great benefit to my mother, freeing her from being the only caregiver present in Buffalo. My brothers and I live out of town. Heather and especially Vicky made sure to keep open a clear line of communication to talk about daily needs, adjustments to care and a monthly schedule. Heather would reach out to see what appointments were coming up and communicate with my mom and me about the next month's schedule. They approached their work with empathy, professionalism and a level of care that we quickly became comfortable with and they won our trust over quickly. In the last few weeks my father has had to transition to nursing care. This was a six to eight week period of hospital visits, rehabilitation stay and finally, the need for him to move onto full time nursing care. Senior Solutions stepped up to help us through this process as well. It was scary and challenging not knowing a few weeks ago where my father would be and who would care for him. Senior Solutions and Vicky in particular became advocates and were pivotal in us feeling supported through this process. In short, once we started with them, it felt like my father had someone in his corner while we as a family worked on other aspects of his care.
We can’t thank Senior Solutions enough. They walk their walk and we are forever grateful to them for their time, care and compassion. Thank you.
With all our respect and gratitude.
Cheers,
Michael, Brian and Richard Goorevich
