From caregiver to needing care. The inspiration behind Global Caregiver Directories and Caregivingw

Not too long ago, the free Canadian-based website CanadianCaregiverDirectory.com was launched. Now, we are now happy to announce the beta launch of three additional free caregiver websites including CaregiverdirectoryUSA.com, CarerDirectoryUk.co.uk and CarerAustralia.com. We are extremely happy and proud that these sites are live and look forward to seeing these websites grow with the increasing need for caregivers.

To know why these websites were created is to know a little bit about Elena Venegas; she was my grandmother who played an important role in our family, and is the inspiration behind Global Caregiver Directories Inc. and the caregiver directory websites it operates.

Like many relatives of Canadian immigrants, Elena migrated to Canada to look after her grandchildren. She took English classes and made every effort to adapt to Canadian culture. Growing up, we didn't consider her as a 'caregiver', she was just our grandmother who came here to look after me, my baby brother and my two older sisters so that my mother can continue working at her job as a lab technician and office manager at a chemical company.

My grandmother came to Canada when I was six years old, and it was at that time that my younger brother was born. As a caregiver, Elena provided the support that many nannies and caregivers provide for their employer families today. She minded the children, playing with us, cleaning us, feeding us, preparing our lunches and ensuring we got to school on time. After school, she was there to greet us at the bus stop, had snacks prepared and also prepared dinner for the family. She was the perfect operations manager running an efficient household so that my parents could focus on providing for the family. As many parents know, a single income is not enough.

Nannies today provide the same support. Long gone are the days of a single income earner supporting the family. And with the cost of daycare, especially when multiple children are involved, the economics of hiring a nanny makes sense. Nannies are not reserved for the rich and famous, but in many cases, are required for the middle class for parents to maintain their careers and provide for their family's present and future needs.

There are many stories I can share about Elena that relate to many aspects of the caregiving role and industry, and I will share these stories as they relate to the challenges and situations that face families today. For now, what I will say is that the role she played in bringing up the grandchildren, has paid off not only for me and my siblings, but for my parents, and for Canada. All the children have grown up thriving in successful professions; among us are a senior management professional, a senior product manager in the telecommunications industry, a digital marketing specialist, and a vice principal in Ontario's largest school board. I'm the senior management professional with twenty years of management experience in the fast paced, ever changing technology industry. I'm an operations specialist with an MBA and work on creating efficient operations, developing high performance cultures, managing and leading people including local and decentralized (virtual) teams, and bringing services to market. The content of these blog posts are intended to provide caregivers and caregiver companies insight into how to position themselves for success which is ultimately measured by providing the best care for those that seek and require it.

Now that you know a little about Elena's earlier years, let me bring you to her later years.

Elena eventually moved into an independent living apartment for seniors. There, she was surrounded by friends, had access to onsite programs and activities like exercise classes, and group events. She was happy. It was another chapter in her life in Canada, a life in Canada that started at the age of 57. To this day, I am astounded, and deeply admire the courage Elena had to come Canada and start a whole new chapter of her life. Coming to Canada was an opportunity. She took English classes. She took bus tours to different parts of Canada and to the US with her friends. She even became the treasurer of her seniors club. Elena's heart was made of pure goodness; not an evil bone in her body. She lived her life being of service to others, so it was only fitting that in her later years, I had that honour of being of service to her.

Like many seniors well into their golden years, Elena began to see her friends pass away, sadly to the point, that all her close friends in her building had passed away. I can imagine how lonely and depressing it could be to no longer have your social circle to lean on for support and friendship. One night, my grandmother called me and told me that she was lonely. She asked if I would come over for dinner. It was heartbreaking to think that she was lonely, a lady that had given her life to serve others has now found herself feeling alone. I went there for dinner and promised that I would come once a week to have dinner and spend the evening together. During those nights, we would play cards or rent a movie. Or if we were up for it, we would go to the movies. Sometimes, after a long day at work, I would go there and just take a nap while she watched her shows. It was our time together. Eventually, my younger brother would do the same. It was something that all us of looked forward to each week.

This bonding time I spent with my grandmother, I will cherish forever. Her cooking is one thing that I miss to this day. She would cook my favourite meals for my visit, and sometime surprise me with special desserts she prepared. One day, however, I came over and dinner wasn't made. In fact she didn't remember I was coming over.

My grandmother forgot that I was coming, which I thought was unusual. When I showed up, she looked surprised but was very happy to see me. Together we prepared dinner and spent the evening in each others company. That evening, I had a favour to ask of her, and that was to hem a pair of pants I had purchased on the weekend. My grandmother was a master at sewing, having done much of it growing up.

In the following weeks, it was noticeable that Elena was starting to forget things. She regularly forgot that I was coming for dinner, even when I called her earlier in the day to remind her. And when I did show up, I would see my pants sitting there by the sewing machine, still new and 3 inches too long. Many times after we prepared dinner and ate, she would ask me if I was hungry and if I wanted her to prepare something for me. The first few times this happened, I thought she was just being a grandmother trying to stuff me, but I soon realized that she would forget that we just shared a meal together.

It came to the point, where Elena would have to leave her apartment, for her safety and for the safety of others. I don't believe that moving out of her apartment is something she thought would happen. It had been her home for over 10 years. But forgetting about something she was cooking on the stove drove the decision by the building management that she would have to leave. The building was an 'independent' living facility for seniors; Elena would no longer be independent.

Fortunately, my mother and I had started a care plan earlier to determine what we would do in the event that my grandmother would have to leave her apartment. These decisions around care are decisions that many Canadians face today. Do you consider a nursing home or home care? What kind of care is needed? What programs are available? If home care is more cost effective, what is the cost to your own livelihood and independence? Do you have the energy and resources to provide care? These may be questions that don't require answers right now, but they are questions that most of us will face at some point.

In 2006, my cousin migrated to Canada under the Live-in Caregiver program. This is something we had planned over a few years. Additionally, my original home, a townhouse that I now rent, would now be used as a new home for my grandmother and my cousin, her Live-in Caregiver. Not everyone is as fortunate to have an extra home to support an aging relative. And while I did not have the same investment opportunity in this property, I now viewed this property as a gift from above that would be used to provide the best care I can in return for the love and support my grandmother gave me since I was 6 years old.

My grandmother would live there for the next nine years until she passed away on May 20, 2014 at the age of 92. It is truly a gift that she lived until the age of 92 and was able to spend some years enjoying time with her great grandchildren. Extending her years was not an accident. It was because of the care we were able to provide that contributed to her final years.

Through this blog, and through the free caregiver directory websites, my hope is to help families connect with caregivers, so that we can all be as fortunate to live richer lives and experience more that life has to offer with the limited time we have together.

You can help others by sharing our free caregiver directory websites with others. Post our links on Facebook, Tweet our links on Twitter, share our sites on your social apps, or simply tell a friend or relative over coffee.

To long, rich lives with family.

Andrew