In 2006, Care is There’s founder, Elizabeth Swider, had a vision: A care management company dedicated to helping older adults live independent lives while giving their loved ones peace of mind. Through her efforts, Care is There was born. 20 years later, Elizabeth’s vision is a growing, thriving company making a huge impact in the lives of our clients. As she thinks back over the last 20 years and the miracles that she personally helped create in her client’s lives, Elizabeth fondly remembers that day that her client with memory loss, Eilene* insisted on going to the airport to take a flight across the country.
Eilene was a Care is There client living with memory loss and her greatest wish was to take a flight across the country to revisit the places she lived at an earlier time in her life. The only problem was that Eilene, a Charlottesville resident, didn’t realize that she was no longer safe to travel alone. Enter Elizabeth Swider, her Care is There Executive Assistant.
Rather than potentially injure Eilene’s dignity by telling her she wasn’t able nor allowed to travel, Elizabeth took Eilene to the airport. After looking over airline options, Eilene chose the one she wanted to fly on, and they stepped up to the ticket counter to speak to the ticket agent.
Before they started discussing Eilene’s travel request, Elizabeth discreetly slipped a card to the ticket agent. It read: “The person I am with has memory loss. Please be patient.” Armed with this knowledge, the ticket agent listened to Eilene’s desire to take a flight across the country. Her professional attitude and attention made Eilene feel like a valued customer. This also set the tone for when the agent explained the steep cost of taking a flight and the many steps that Eilene would need to complete before she could travel.
After learning how much she would need to do and the prohibitive cost of taking the trip that she had her heart set on, Eilene chose not to get on a flight that day. The ticket agent’s kindness and generosity combined with Elizabeth’s quick thinking and ingenuity allowed Eilene to make an informed decision not to fly, and she left the airport content with her decision and in control of her life.
This is just one example of the way Care is There has been creating miracles in the lives of their clients for the last 20 years. The kindness, empathy and understanding that Elizabeth showed to Eilene that day is evident in all of Care is There’s Executive Assistants.
Every day, and in every interaction we have, everyone at Care is There strives to embody and support the Care is There vision, to create a joyful, supportive, encouraging environment where every team member, community partner, client, and client loved-one knows themselves to be a miracle worker.
*Names Changed for Privacy
Photo by Lydia Norstad on Unsplash
Do you need help managing the care of an elderly loved one in Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Staunton, Culpeper, or Waynesboro, Virginia?
Contact us at Care is There Geriatric Care Management 800.434.1633 or info@careisthere.com. We offer geriatric care management, support for independent living, assisted living enhancement, Aging Life Care™ services, and peace of mind for long distance caregivers.
AGING LIFE CARE™ is a trademark of the Aging Life Care Association. Only ALCA members are authorized to use this term to identify their services. See the Team page of CareisThere.com for a list of our associates, and look for the Aging Life Care logo on the bio pages of our ACLA members.