Take Care Volunteers

This month Take Care Private Duty Home Health Care and Take Care Advisor highlight a few staff members who have participated in our volunteering program “Take Care Gives Back.” Read about how some of the Take Care staff have individually taken their time to go out into the community to give back in their own way.

Jeanne Heere, Scheduling Supervisor, actively volunteers with Robbie, her son, and one of her Golden Retrievers, Zoe. Through the Humane Society of Sarasota County and Therapy Dogs Inc. Zoe, Robbie, and Jeanne successfully completed training so that Zoe would be accepted as a Therapy Dog. To date, they have visited Heartland North, Pines of Sarasota, and Plymouth Harbor. By taking Zoe into this environment it helps some residents recount memories of their past, providing socialization for all parties involved. It is a wonderful example of how small efforts have lasting effects. Jeanne enjoys volunteering as it is “stress-free time you have doing what you enjoy and love and giving to others is so amazing.”

Cathy McDaniel, Accounting Manager, visited Harbor Chase in Venice with her mother a few months back, and found the facility and staff to be very helpful and friendly. Cathy thought it would be a great place to volunteer. One Friday in November, Cathy was asked to volunteer her time assisting with the residents’ afternoon cocktail party. Part of the volunteering involved playing bridge with the residents, pouring drinks, and fixing trays. Cathy joined residents in a game of bridge.

There are various ways to help out in our community. Choose something you love, and there is likely a place for you. Helping out in small ways, makes a large impact. “I look forward to my next visit in January so that I can re-connect with some of my new found friends,” Cathy said. “I might even get better
at bridge.”

A recent article from The New York Times supports Take Care’s belief in the importance of volunteering and giving back. “There’s no question that it gives life a greater meaning when we make this kind of shift in the direction of others and get away from our own self-preoccupation and problems,” said Stephen G. Post, director of the Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care and Bioethics at Stony Brook University on Long Island and a co-author of Why Good Things Happen to Good People (Broadway, 2007). “But it also seems to be the case that there is an underlying biology involved in all this.”

Good Deeds

In the November 30, 2009, issue of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, the staff at Take Care Private Duty Home Health Care and Take Care Advisor were recognized for their good deed in collecting money on behalf of Susanne S. Wise, RN, MBA, Take Care's owner and executive administrator, to donate for the 2009 Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk®. Read more here.

Keep watching for Take Care in and around the community. We believe in community service and giving back. This is one exciting example of how a team can impact an amazing cause.

As a proud Decathlon sponsor of the 2009 Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk®, Take Care and Take Care Advisor enlisted 67 Take Care employees, friends, and family members to walk for the cause. The team raised $1,505.00. The walk took place Saturday, October 24, 2009 at 9 a.m. on Lido Beach in Sarasota, Florida with more than 400 walkers. Take Care thanks all of its supporters.

Take Care Honors Caregivers of the Month

In today’s Sarasota Herald Tribune “Business Buzz” section, Take Care Private Duty Home Health Care’s “Caregivers of the Month” were named:

• Denise Stork, CNA, of Sarasota


• Lisa Haines, CNA of Bradenton


• Lorna Sawyers-Sucra, CNA of Venice

Each month Take Care recognizes our Caregivers of the Month. We choose caregivers each month from each office in Sarasota, Bradenton, and Venice who represent the mission of Take Care: bringing clients the highest quality of private duty home health care with compassion and professionalism while ensuring the safety and dignity of each client. This is a peer-to-peer program whereby fellow co-workers nominate a caregiver from the field staff who goes above and beyond and receives recognition from clients and families.

Click here to read more about our Caregiver of the Month program.

Mary Pedersen: Bradenton Herald "Names and Faces"

Today's Bradenton Herald recognizes Mary Pedersen in the "Names and Faces" section. Pedersen has been named Human Resources Manager for the corporate office of Take Care Private Duty Home Health Care. Pedersen has more than 15 years of experience as an HR management professional.

About Mary Pedersen

Take Care Private Duty Home Health Care’s ongoing efforts to achieve a greater effectiveness and positive impact on the work life of every Take Care employee is evident as we build the Human Resources team at Take Care. As Human Resources Manager, Mary leads in the department’s growth and evolution of the HR practice. The HR industry must progress and develop for the employees’ benefit and personal growth. Our forward-thinking HR team is keeping a finger on that pulse.

The Take Care HR department is an interactive and essential function of Take Care. Our HR team is the advocate for Take Care employees who are essential members our company. As Human Resources Manager, Mary takes on multiple roles as recruiter, administrator, counselor, and facilitator fulfilling the need for a sustainable workforce. The growth and evolution of the HR practice across time reflects our ongoing efforts to achieve a greater effectiveness and positive impact on the work life of every employee. At our best, HR changes the world one employee at a time. The HR team bolsters Take Care employees with strength and the foundation allowing them to deliver services at the highest level to our clients.

With more than 15 years of experience as an HR management professional, Mary strengthens the Take Care management team bringing her human resources areas of expertise: recruitment and retention, policy development, HR program design and roll out, employee engagement, training initiatives, resource planning, organizational redesign and performance management, and conflict resolution.

Mary was the recipient of several awards for outstanding performance including the Chairman’s award for her dedication to the delivery of exemplary HR practices and support. She is an active member of both the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) and Sarasota Manatee HR Association (SHRA). Mary is a graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology where she received a Bachelor of Science Degree.

Take Care's Holiday Giving

Take Care Private Duty Home Health Care and Take Care Advisor focus on the well-being of our clients, our staff, and caregivers, and often we look outward to see how we can help our community that supports each one of us. There are certain times throughout the year where we as a company encourage community outreach, and particularly as we step into the month of December, we are reminded of ways we all can give back. All Take Care offices will be sponsoring a family through SPARCC's Holiday Helper's Program.

This December, Take Care adopted three families, who all are survivors of domestic violence. The holidays in particular can be a difficult time, and it is our focus to provide some of the basic necessities to these mothers and children. From clothing to gifts, we collect items from these families' wish lists, wrap and label the gifts, and deliver to SPARCC on December 11, 2009, so that these families enjoy a brighter holiday.

Take Care asks friends, families, staff, and caregivers to donate what they are able. A list of items requested from the SPARCC families is available in each office in Sarasota, Bradenton, and Venice. Take Care thanks you for giving.

About SPARCC

Safe Place and Rape Crisis Center, Inc. (SPARCC) was formed as a non-profit agency in 1979. SPARCC is the only state-certified center for domestic violence and sexual assault services for Sarasota and DeSoto Counties. All of SPARCC's services are free and confidential. In addition to serving victims, SPARCC is actively engaged in promoting social change through community awareness and education, in an effort to prevent such violence in the future. SPARCC serves its clients through an Outreach Center in downtown Sarasota, satellite offices in south Sarasota and DeSoto Counties, a shelter operating 24 hours a day/365 days a year and at the local courthouses.