ResCare HomeCare news — 10/28/2007

West Coast wildfires impact ResCare HomeCare operations

By John Darr

COSTA MESA, CA (October 28, 2007) -- “In Orange County, we only had one staff member who had to evacuate their home,” ResCare HomeCare Executive Director Monica Bush said.

And that’s some of the good news coming out of ResCare operations in California as wildfires roared for more than a week straight.

ResCare HomeCare’s Costa Mesa staff. Front Row L- R: Breonna Bedner, Staffer; Tara Ackley, Client Services Manager; Barbara Pittman, Staffer; Karen Spratt, Accounting Specialist; Mayra Perez, Accounting Specialist; Linda Bennett, Administrative Assistant; Back Row L - R: Carol Leonard, H.R. Assistant; Melanie Hahn, Business Development; Monica Bush, Executive Director; Debra Newquist, Dir. of Geriatric Services; Stephanie Snyder, Staffer; Kathy Sherman, Operations Manager; Donna Crisostomo, Staffer; Randy German, Business Development

ResCare’s San Diego office got the worst of it. Nine staff and four clients were forced to leave their homes. One ResCare caregiver thought she’d lost her home.

“Her house is salvageable, but with significant damage,” Ms. Bush said.

ResCare HomeCare’s Costa Mesa Branch provides essential supports to older adults in need of personal care. That tough task doesn’t get any easier during a crisis.

“The people we serve need routine and when a crisis like this hits, it makes our job ten times more difficult,” ResCare HomeCare Client Services Manager Tara Ackley said. “Their needs don’t disappear.”

Back to the good news – no interruptions for ResCare operations in California that provide supports for individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities. And the ResCare Corporate Risk Department has yet to receive a claim.

Going beyond their normal assistance efforts, the ResCare HomeCare Costa Mesa office donated two plastic bins packed with sport drinks, non-perishable foods and toiletry items for a group of about 100 evacuees who gather daily in a plaza’s parking lot to get information on the wildfire’s containment.

“These folks really needed a ray of sunshine in their day,” Ms. Ackley said.

The ResCare HomeCare Costa Mesa branch also joined with the Costa Mesa Fire Fighters Association and Council Member Katrina Foley to collect pajamas, pillows, toys, blankets, towels, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and grocery and department store gift cards for those affected by the fires.

“What we do for others is something we hope they would do for us if the roles were reversed,” Ms. Ackley said.

That’s the premise behind ResCare’s SHARE program, which strives to provide financial assistance during times of emergency need to ResCare family, friends and organizations. SHARE stands for Support, Help, Assistance, Relief, Effort. The SHARE program collects funds from voluntary contributors and disburses them to those in need.

If you’d like to make a contribution to SHARE, please make a check payable to “Support Help Assistance Relief Effort” and mail to:

Support Help Assistance Relief Effort
c/o Misty Link
ResCare
9901 Linn Station Road
Louisville, KY 40223-3808

Since the SHARE program began in 1993, employees have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars that benefited thousands of our co-workers, family members and outside organizations.