Elder Care in Ottawa, Ontario

I am a 27 year old mother and wife. I enjoy spending time with my family, reading, writing, listening to music, and gardening. During my spare time I provide care to various clients around the city of Ottawa. My availability consists of evenings and weekends, however I do not have other employment or school to schedule around. I am extremely organized, punctual, creative, compassionate, and most important of all fun. I am passionate about caring for my clients, and work hard with their loved ones to ensure that they are being provided with the best quality of life. To conclude I strongly believe that I am an excellent candidate for this position. I have worked with people of all ages, cultures, and personalities. I have familiar with; Multiple Sclerosis, Cerebral Palsy, Paraplegia, Paralysis, Spinal Cord Injury, Brain Injury, Down Syndrome, Autism, and other developmental delays. I am familiar with a range of tasks, including all aspects of personal care. I believe strongly that every situation and person is different and I strive to work with my clients families to ensure I am providing exactly the care they need. However I believe that the root of a good caregiver/ client arrangement is companionship. Everyone likes to see a smiling face every day, and I find that sometimes, just simply having someone to chat with can work wonders to improve someone\'s outlook. Please feel free to ask any questions that you may have My experience in this field began when I was a live in Nanny and care provider for a local family with twin girls. My primary duties were to provide care to the mother of the girls. She suffered from Multiple Sclerosis, and had recently had an episode that had left her mostly paralyzed on one side of her body. At this time I had not attended the PSW program, and so she had an attendant come to help her with the medical side of things. I helped her mostly with her physiotherapy exercises, and I helped her around the house with things like laundry, cooking, cleaning, organization, scheduling, preparing lunches, and organizing drop off of the children to and from daycare, while attending the ECE (Early Childhood Education) program at Algonquin College. The experiences I had with this family led me to become passionate about helping people in similar situations, and I therefore changed from the ECE program to the PSW program. I went on to do a total of 3 clinical placements for my schooling. This consisted of; at home care, in a nursing home, and in a retirement home. I enjoyed the at home care the most as I found people to be more happy and relaxed in their own space. During my schooling I worked at The Cumberland Lodge. Here I worked and supervised the evening shift. An RPN was on hand for medication. I was in charge of booking calls for myself and another staff, and ensuring that the residents were all dressed and seated for dinner. Myself and the other staff would then serve the diner that was prepared by the kitchen. After dinner we would have a short activity such as movie or board games and then start the residents evening routines, which was based on the clients preference (sometimes a bath or shower, brush teeth, comb hair, apply creams). There were 55 residents in the lodge. After I finished my schooling I began to offer my services privately, to families such as yourselves. I offer companionship, help with errands, household cleaning, outings, help with personal care to full personal care. I also help with physiotherapy exercises. Privately, I have taken care of an elderly woman with Polio. Initially the family hired me as a companion as their mother had just lost a very close friend at the facility she lived in. I would go and watch soap operas with her and read her books or watch movies. Gradually my duties increased to cooking and cleaning for her, as her granddaughter became pregnant and could no longer take on these responsibilities. I cared for her for a total of 4 years, eventually taking on the task with her family of trying to make her passing the most comfortable it could be. I also cared for a man in his mid-twenties with downs syndrome. When I began, he lived with his parents and I would take him out to do some shopping or go "on an adventure" the family was looking for someone to help the young man feel confident while out in public. They wanted him to eventually be able to live on his own and have his own apartment and be a part of society as any other 20 something boy would. I am proud to say that he now lives at an assisted living housing program in Kemptville. I then got my job with Disabled Persons Community Resources, now known as The In Community. The In Community has several sites over Ottawa, in apartment buildings or low rise condominiums. They rent a one bedroom or bachelor apartment as an office, and place clients in the apartments of the other 10 secured 1-2 bedroom suites. Here I worked with people of all ages, and with a range of disabilities, in their own homes. I booked myself and another staff for calls, which consisted of personal care, cleaning, cooking, and morning or nighttime routines. I thoroughly enjoyed my job here, and stayed for over 6 years. I am unable to return there because you have to be available for all shifts, and with 2 young boys and a household to manage, this is not an option for me. I now offer my services privately. The services I offer include personal care, cleaning, cooking, companionship, help with errands, help with medication, organization, or outings. I also offer pet care to existing clients that already have animals they are having a hard time taking care of.