Home Sweet Home Care continues on

4 | SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2020 FAMILY OWNED BUSINESS

Home Sweet Home Care continues on

FROM STAFF REPORTS SUFFOLK NEWS-HERALD

Sixteen years ago, Shirley McGee started Home Sweet Home Care, because she wanted families to have a better experience than she and her mother had.

Everyone eventually needs assistance. When Shirley’s mother needed help, the additional demands were tough to manage. Like so many caring for an older adult, Shirley also worked a full-time job and had children at home. Eventually, both she and her mother agreed that moving Mom into a nursing home was necessary. However, McGee was devastated when she witnessed how quickly her mother lost spirit and died after moving into assisted living.

McGee was convinced there had to be a better choice for families, and she was determined to find it. Soon she discovered the then-cottage industry of companion care and personal care. When McGee opened her doors in October 2004, she was one of the first in-home care companies in Hampton Roads.

This was what she and her mother had needed. McGee was determined that Tidewater families would have in-home care as an option. No longer would the elderly have to move out of their homes just because they needed help with the daily tasks of living.

Since that date, Shirley has worked diligently to ensure that family members of her elderly clients have confidence their parents are in good hands. McGee insists on using

the employee method rather than the contract method used by some home care agencies.

McGee says, “I want to be sure that I would send this person to care for my own mother. Having employees versus contractors means I can set and maintain training requirements, performance reviews, supervisory visits, and ensure that required federal and state taxes are paid. You can’t do that with independent contractors.”

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SUBMITTED PHOTO Shirley McGee, the founder of Home Sweet Home Care, recently passed the reins to her daughter, Stephanie Jensen, upon her retirement.