Hurricane Caregivers: Assisting Hands Fort Myers Takes Their Business Personally

This is the second post in a series of stories from our franchise owners in Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. In our first post, Tricia Winiecki shared her story of her caregivers in Naples (Read the full story here).

In Fort Myers, Florida, President Robert Thomas provided stories on a number of caregivers and staff members who selflessly served during the hurricane.

• Caregiver Jackie W took a Medicare waiver client to her home and provided care there until the storm is over.

• Joanne R took a client to home when her client’s home lost air-conditioning.

• Chelsea M arrived at a client’s home found that a tree at fallen under the house and caused damage, and she arranged a contractor to go over and fix the damage.

• Connie Y was very persistent in persuading a very stubborn client to evacuate to a shelter. Finally the client agreed to move to the shelter just in time for the storm.  Connie stayed with the client for over 48 hours until relief came.

• Our on-call scheduler Georgia D had the office phones rolled to her and when the office lost power we were unable to divert phones to anyone else.  Thus she had the phones for four straight days and she herself had to evacuate with her family to Mississippi.

• Our regular scheduler Carole F worked extremely hard to contact all clients and caregivers before the storm, and then arrange emergency care for all clients that needed it during the storm.  She then braved the office with no working phones, electricity or air conditioning, to keep the business running after the storm.

Thomas said, “We feel very blessed to survive the worst in hurricane 50 years in Florida with homes and business mainly intact, and with a such a devoted and professional staff making sure our clients were safe. Thanks so much to them all!”

We are thankful for the efforts made by our team in Fort Myers, and continue to pray for the staff, clients and families of Florida.