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Caregivers Aim To Come To You

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By LAURA FRAZIER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 22, 2008

BRANDON - Linda Smith has bittersweet memories of watching her mother, Nettie Smith, care for her cancer-stricken grandfather decades ago in Fairfax, Va.

"My mother bathed him, dressed him and fed him," Smith said. "She nursed him until the day he died."

Meanwhile, Smith and her 17 siblings - "Seven girls and 11 boys, all natural-born to the same mother and father," she said - took turns hauling water from a well or neighbor's home up the road to their grandparents' house, which had no indoor plumbing. The girls did household chores, and the boys cut the grass and worked outside.

Nettie Smith, now 79 and living in Riverview, demonstrates compassion for others, her daughter said.

"My mother back then was the kind of person who adopted lots of friends and relatives. The seniors especially were always loved and respected," Linda Smith said.

Smith and one of her sisters, Patrice Thompson, and brother-in-law Raymond Thompson recently started a business they hope will help other families faced with caring for elderly or ailing loved ones.

In December, they opened Right at Home, a homemaker companion service that provides care and assistance for elderly and disabled people who live alone, with relatives or in assisted living facilities or nursing homes.

"As seniors age and require more assistance, many are forced to nursing homes for care," Patrice Thompson said. "Our services give those seniors the opportunity to remain in the comfort of their own homes or in assisted living for as long as possible."

The agency, Smith said, contracts with 20 caregivers who are trained, insured and bonded to provide services such as light housekeeping, meal preparation, medication reminders, running errands and providing transportation to appointments.

Often, she said, one of the most important things a caregiver can provide is companionship.

Edie Taylor, director of community relations at Sun Towers Retirement Community, said many residents at the Sun City Center facility rely on hired caregivers for companionship.

"The caregiver might take them out shopping or just play a game with them," Taylor said. "A lot of folks that are here have very little if any family nearby."

In many cases, she said, caregivers become the client's new family.

Taylor said Right at Home is one of more than 100 home health care companies in Hillsborough County, and one of a select few that she prefers to work with and refer clients to.

"Even if they have to send several people out to meet with the client, they do whatever it takes to make sure it's a good fit. They are just fabulous people," Taylor said.

RIGHT AT HOME

WHAT: In-home care and assistance for the elderly and disabled who live alone, with family members or in assisted-living facilities or nursing homes

WHERE: 902 W. Lumsden Road, Suite 104, Brandon

COST: $17.50 per hour, four-hour minimum

INFO: (813) 689-4884 or go to www.brandon.rightathome .net

Reporter Laura Frazier can be reached at (813) 657-4523 or lfrazier@tampatrib.com.

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