What Homewatch CareGivers Franchise Owners Are Up to During the Pandemic

When someone chooses to buy a home care franchise, we often hear how they want to “give back” and about their own experiences in caring for a loved one. Our network is made up of caring individuals who thrive on helping others and during a time of crisis and change, they continue to find ways to make a difference in their communities.

We’ve compiled a few stories of giving back and doing good for others from some of our Franchise Owners:

Mike Riley, owner of the Charlotte, North Carolina office has a therapy dog, Delilah, who makes service calls with him, usually to facilities where his caregivers see clients. During the COVID-19 pandemic, new guidelines made those visits impossible so Mike got creative and made videos of Delilah for “virtual visits.” You can see the videos here.

Did someone say parade? A number of our owners have created or participated in car parades to safely giving a honking hello to those on lockdown in facilities or to colorfully say thanks to nurses and other medical professionals. Margie Lannon, owner of the Tucson and Green Valley Arizona offices got her team together to make fun signs and visit the Santa Cruz Regional Hospital for Appreciation Day this spring. This was a new event in response to the pandemic and social distancing guidelines.  For Nurses Week, Margie and her team displayed “handmade” signs showing colorful hands and the message, “Giving Hands to All Our Hospital Heroes” and this time they went to the Northwest Medical Center in Tucson as a way of showing their appreciation for nurses. The Mongin family of the Crystal Lake, Illinois office organized and hosted a Parade of Hope with decorated cars going between the towns of Crystal Lake and Huntley to show support for COVID-19 patients in local hospitals, as well as frontline workers. Despite a little rain, they had a good turnout with lots of smiles.

Dennise Vaughn of the Naperville, Illinois office partnered up with others in her community to create the Healthy Partners Program which delivered handmade masks, locally-made hand sanitizer, and cards to local seniors. She also found ways to connect some clients with family virtually by providing some tech support for those new to Zoom or FaceTime. “This crisis almost created an opportunity to make seniors lives more fulfilled with technology,” she told the Patch in a recent article.

Wendy Raney, owner of the North Dallas, Texas office held a food drive and in one week, they collected just over 900 pounds of food, baby diapers, and baby formula to donate to the Network of Community Ministries in Richardson, Texas. This charity was selected based on a personal connection. Caregivers, friends, and even clients dropped off their donations at Raney’s office to help those who are experiencing job loss and financial hardship at this time.

Deb Nelson owner of the Edina, Minnesota office has an employee with a knack for sewing so in the early days of the various shutdowns and scramble for the desperately-needed personal protective equipment (PPE), they spent weekends making cloth masks. Initially they were responding to a request from a local hospital, but it wasn’t long before they saw more need and made them for clients and others who wanted this extra layer of protection and comfort.

Matthew and Mary Elizabeth Peterson, owners of the New Haven, Connecticut office partnered with others in their community to co-organize “Food for the Frontlines” which worked with local restaurants trying to stay afloat during their own closures to deliver healthy meals to hospital workers. The details of their program were covered by the New Haven Biz.

The good deeds just keep happening as these owners and their staff find new ways to connect and help in their communities not just now but going forward.

Learn more about the opportunity to own a business that gives back to your community.