KUDOS From Kelly

By Kelly McNamara

Dawn Reed: I am very proud and pleased to say that Dawn is now celebrating her TENTH YEAR with us. And we are all applauding it as well. Dawn first came to our attention while I was at our bank (TD Bank, then and still) in our very early months. We began our business knowing that we needed to find good caregivers before we began to advertise for clients. Being rookies in this business, we assumed that once we hired a few great caregivers we would be set. We learned quickly that word of mouth spreads. Soon we had higher demand for our services than good available caregivers.

How to proceed ? Well, luck was shining on us that day because right there on a table at TD Bank was a pile of Dawn’s business cards. “Heavenly Home Care” it read. Along with “Experienced, professional caregivers available”. Thus, began our long and interesting journey with Dawn and the wonderful caregivers she supplied for us. As a bonus, Dawn herself was a truly amazing caregiver. She became a long-standing caregiver with unsurpassed experience with exactly the types of clients we were serving. She also evolved into a leadership role and served as a mentor to less experienced caregivers, and helped to grow them into well performing caregivers themselves.

We also came to know Dawn, her family, and friends. She quickly became a trusted and valued personal friend of mine. Together we celebrated milestones, and delighted in each other’s achievements.

We shared in Dawn’s sorrows as well. We will never forget the day Dawn’s beloved nephew, a child we were especially fond of, died after a terrible accident, falling from a 2-story window at age 2 in May 2010. Most people would simply wallow in sorrow but Dawn turned her massive grief into action. Her campaign, From Tragedy to Triumph, evolved into a foundation called Jaden’s house, which uses its funds this to plan activities and eventually a safe house for urban children with support services for them and their parents.

Our company supports Dawn in this endeavor and it is a major charitable organization for us.

It is also just one indicator of what kind of person Dawn is. A compassionate committed family member, mother, friend. A warrior for causes she believes in.

An essential contributor to our company, our clients, our caregivers. Most importantly a person we are so very proud to call a treasured friend.

All caregivers mentioned in this column will receive a gift card and our sincere appreciation! Many many thanks to all of you for once again extending yourselves to ensure that we are of course Always There…!! ■