Agency Helps Seniors & Vets

Pictured: Ann Smith (client of Visiting Angels) Cheryl Williams (caregiver of Visiting Angels) Scott DONEY (Client Support Director @ Visiting Angels)

By Lorie Beardsley | Our Town Contributor

The aging process often comes with a sense of loss as mobility or memory becomes limited, threatening valued independence. When Visiting Angels of South Central Michigan opened in May of 2017, independence became more readily available to seniors throughout Lenawee, Hillsdale, and Jackson counties.

“While I was deployed to Afghanistan in 2014 and 2015 as a commander in the Army, I became close to one of my soldiers, Chief Warrant O cer 4 William Bruck. Prior to our deployment, William had recently opened a Visiting Angels Senior Home Care agency. Following our deployment, William and I stayed in touch. I continued to monitor how his home care company was doing, and more importantly, how rewarding the mission of providing safety and assistance to our senior population was for him,” said fellow owner Tim Welbaum.

“After conducting our due diligence, we decided that placing our headquarters in Adrian, and operating throughout South Central Michigan would o er us a beautiful opportunity to assist thousands of seniors in need as the only veteran owned and operated home care agency in our territory.”

Serving the veterans of the community is important to the owners. Unfortunately, insurance companies rarely o er coverage for home care services. Private pay and long-term care insurance are the ways through which families pay for care, but additional options may be available to veterans.

“I pride myself on being able to provide our qualifi ed senior Veteran population with the home care services that so many of them desperately need throughout our community, at no charge to the Veteran if approved by the VA,” Welbaum added that his sta can assist with the VA enrollment packet and the application for home care. “There is nothing more humbling than providing home care services to those heroes who served us in World War II, Korea, Vietnam and now even the Persian Gulf War.”

Visiting Angels seeks to provide care to all local seniors who would like to remain at home. Their vast array of services includes bathing and dressing assistance. meal planning and preparation, incidental transportation, companionship, and much more.

The standard of care is high at Visiting Angels, “We are one of the few agencies in the area that require at least one year of experience working in a facility or two years of experience working in the home care fi eld. Although not a requirement for providing non-medical homecare services, many of our Angels are Certifi ed Nursing Assistants (CNAs) as well,” Welbaum said.

“I believe that there are a lot of people out there that could be a caregiver, but few have what it takes to be an Angel. They must possess the big heart, love, empathy, and compassion that cannot be trained. I’ve been truly blessed with the beautiful team we’ve built over the last four years. And with that, I genuinely believe it’s because God is great and always looks out for us!”

For more information about Visiting Angels of South Central Michigan, contact them at 517-920-4254 or visit their website www.visitingangels.com/southcentralmi/home