Meet Our Team

Working with seniors is something that was instilled upon me from a young age by my mother. When my mother was a volunteer visitor I would occasionally join her on her visits to see Katarina when I was about 8 years old. Katarina was Russian and spoke only a little bit of English. I still remember that Katarina would be in absolute amazement when I would put the straw in my drinking box – she had never seen anything like it and I would show her how it worked! In sharing the same passion with my mother, I continued on during my high school years volunteering at a Long Term Care facility & volunteer visiting also. Later in life when my grandmother was in Long Term Care, just over an hour away, I regularly went to visit her with my three children until she passed away in 2010. Seeing the enjoyment that she would get watching the children run around and engage her was priceless and truly memorable. Being the owner of Newmarket’s Home Instead allows me to work at my passion and sincerely feel like I am making a difference in a senior’s life. I am honored to have the privilege to provide services to our clients and it is something I take very personally.

Greg, father to Liam and Ava, and husband to Shelley, is well known in the field of home care, but his roots have simple beginnings as his earliest recollections of senior activism refer to a time when his mom was involved with charities like Meals on Wheels and encouraged him and his siblings to do the same. Today, his sits on the Board of Directors of the Ontario Home Care Association, has strong ties to the Alzheimer Society Peel (including partnership in the Caregiver ReCharge Program) and focusses the efforts of the Guelph, Cambridge, Caledon, Orangeville office on philanthropy, public education and community outreach. He is an author of the book Trusted Transitions, was presented the Advocacy Award by Home Instead Corporate for his tireless efforts, and since 2009 has driven Home Instead to exceed the expectations of over 1000 seniors and their families, by striving for service excellence.

Larissa comes to us with previous Home Instead experience. She has returned determined to show the Guelph community what “Living Home Instead,” truly means. Larissa has a RPN Diploma which gives her a valuable perspective and assists in supporting our CAREGivers. She believes that building trusting relationships with aging adults and their families is a privilege and should not be taken lightly. Originally with a background in customer service, Larissa found herself gravitating towards the health and senior care in college and she finds working with families and getting to know clients on a more personal level both beneficial and extremely rewarding. She strives to be an approachable leader and always tries to put herself in others’ shoes. Larissa is a wife and mom of two girls and in her spare time she works in her studio as a woodworking artist.

​Paul is grateful to now be able support his community. His career with Home Instead has given him the opportunity to connect with the vast amount of resources that exist to family CAREGivers and their senior loved ones, including those provided by Home Instead. He is a good listener and will do his best to understand your unique needs and present you with only the very best of options. His goal is return family caregivers to the role of spouses, sons and daughters and seniors to higher quality of life, by ensuring that your CAREGiver and solutions are "best-fit".

Michelle comes to us with over 10 years of customer service experience. She is a graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University’s Bachelor of Commerce program where she specialized in Retail Management. As someone who is passionate about building relationships, Michelle decided to continue her studies in Human Resource Management at Saskatchewan Polytechnic. She is excited to begin her journey here at Home Instead and build lasting relationships. In her free time, Michelle enjoys reading books and spending time with her dog and family.

Madeleine is a reliable, enthusiastic, and resourceful Service Coordinator that has come to us with with over five years of administration and customer service experience. Born and raised in Guelph, she is passionate about serving her community and was drawn to Home Instead because of the diverse set of care services offered to senior citizens. Growing up, Madeleine enjoyed lots of time with her grandparents and because of this, she carries an inherent respect for aging adults. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science at Wilfrid Laurier University and is excited to utilize her degree in a field where she can help the people who she cares about the most. In her spare time, you will find Madeleine playing golf and tennis, watching movies, and spending time with her family and friends.

I am a dentist from India who has come to Canada to further my career. Conestoga College is where I received my health care administration degree. I started working for HI in 2021 as a caregiver, and more recently, I began working as an on-call coordinator. I love working with seniors and giving them the finest care possible. Giving their clients the greatest service is everything to HI. I take pride in belonging to HI. I’m appreciative to work for HI. Being a part of this team is the best chance I’ve ever had. Serving others has always been a top emphasis in my profession, and this is certainly no exception.

I am from the southern part of India, and I received my doctorate in pharmaceutical sciences from Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bengaluru. I began my work as a clinical research associate for a reputable organization in India, where I participated in several clinical research trials. In 2021, I relocated to Canada to pursue a degree in health care administration and service management at Conestoga College. I began working with Home Instead as a caregiver. I later had the opportunity to work as an on-call coordinator through internal recruitment, and I was really excited to join Home Instead to support the administrative division where quality-oriented service matters first!

Jerry is an enthusiastic brand champion and after researching Home Instead felt an instant connection to their guiding principles of building trust, taking the lead, and sharing your heart. Jerry is an experienced operations leader with a demonstrated history of success building great teams and growing businesses. Jerry has spent the last 20+ years in operations growing his passion for service excellence and uses his positively outrageous service to delight and astound clients. Jerry specializes in building strong supportive teams while coaching a people first culture across the organization to ensure we are making a difference in people’s lives daily. Jerry is always looking for ways to grow his skillsets and can often be found engaging in conversations with co workers and industry professionals while stepping outside his comfort zone to try something new. Jerry married his high school sweetheart, and they are now parents to 3 amazing children. Jerry spends as much time outdoors with his family as he can swimming, hiking, playing sports and enjoying nature.

Geeve has had a lengthy career in the hospitality industry working with several national brands, occupying various roles including General Manager, Regional Manager and Executive Director of Operations. As an entrepreneur, he has owned and operated several independent pubs and restaurants throughout Southwestern Ontario. Geeve has a passion for growing businesses and understands that for successful business growth managers must grow their people first. Accordingly, Geeve has spent his career building teams and relationships, by engaging with all levels of an organization to achieve success together and works hard to be a servant leader. Geeve is excited to work at Home Instead, to give back to the community and supporting you and your aging loved ones. He is married to a Registered Nurse and he and his wife have two beautiful children along with a rambunctious chocolate lab named Portia. He has a passion for cooking, as the kitchen in his home is where you will find him most of the time making an Asian inspired meal, or just baking some delicious butter tarts! Geeve is an avid runner and has competed in several marathons along with many other races across Ontario.

Dan connects community partners with home care resources, so that they can assist families find solutions to their unique challenges. He is focused on helping seniors live active lives as independently as possible. Dan is routinely “out and about” in the community, conducting in-service presentations and sharing Home Instead's public education programs (i.e. Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and palliative care). Additionally, Dan plays an active role in supporting non for profits, including Be a Santa to a Senior, Give Tuesday and Give 65. In his spare time, Dan enjoys a good game of golf.

Farhiyo is Home Instead’s Business Development Associate. She comes from a very strong background in Health Care, completing a bachelor’s degree in in Health Studies at York University with a certificate in Health Informatics. Farhiyo has a passion for the Health Care Industry, and along with being a genuine and caring person, which will be strengths that will make a positive impact to the clients we serve. Farhiyo loves helping others, listening to their concerns and is very passionate about providing not only excellent but quality care to clients and spreading awareness.  She is excited to help family caregivers by addressing their service inquiries and providing service options and resources.  Farhiyo will also be the point person for all items related to Facebook and Instagram and will work with each office to manage their Local Pages.

Rosie has an extensive background in customer service. She previously worked as a manager in the hospitality industry an it was there that she first learned how to build valuable lasting relationships. Rosie wanted to apply her skills to a field where she could make a bigger difference and help others in her community. She began her journey with Home Instead, as a Service Coordinator and in this role she built strong ties to clients and CAREGivers. Because of her success in that role and because opportunity met with skill and training, she was promoted to Recruitment Coordinator and years later she was earned her current role as Recruitment & Retention Specialist. Rosie earned her diploma in Human Resources from Sheridan college, so she will bring both experience and education to this role and continue to build on our roster of exceptional CAREGivers. She will focus on CAREGivers that build trust, take the lead and who share their heart.

​As the Enterprise Administration Manager, Ramona recognizes the importance and value of providing high-quality services to our CAREGivers, our office employees and our clients. Her extensive experience as office manager and her background in accounting are serving her in managing the payroll, accounting, client invoicing and all other day to day office challenges here at Home Instead. Ramona loves multi-tasking and helping people. She is very excited to be part of the Home Instead team because she gets to do what she loves. In her spare time, Ramona likes to get outside and spend time with her family.

​"I am a greater believer in luck, and I find that the harder I work the more I have of it" is a quote by Thomas Jeffreson that Ray identifies with and which inspires him. Ray finished his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in the Philippines and has since had extensive experience in accounts payable and accounts receivable. He furthered his skills by successfully completing courses in accounting and payroll administration. During those years, he worked for various companies providing accounting services. He also developed strong interpersonal skills and an natural ability to build strong and lasting relationships. Ray knows his talents are the right fit with Home Instead, and in his own unique way, will support the business and provide service excellence.

Erika recently completed her Business Administration – Accounting degree at Brock University. The opportunity to join Home Instead was the perfect next step. She connected with our mission to provide personal care to seniors. She has always enjoyed helping her grandparents with whatever they need and spending time with them, whether that be talking with them over a meal/coffee or playing cards. Providing great customer service has always been important to Erika, as she has always looked for ways to help others in all her past personal and professional experiences. She looks forward to continuing to provide great customer service through her role at Home Instead.  In her spare time, Erika likes to knit and sew, crafts which she picked up from her grandmothers.

 

Erin has joined Home Instead as Manager of Quality & Standards after a lengthy career in the Food Service industry. For over 20 years Erin has had many roles such as lead trainer for Canada opening up new franchisee restaurants, to working within the Franchisee head office in various roles, to finally owning 2 franchise’s along with her husband. She also started a separate food and beverage catering company working with private clubs for the past 11 years. During the course of time, Erin was honoured to be involved with numerous charities such as Heart and Stroke Foundation, Relay for Life, MS Society, and the Canadian Breast Cancer Run for the Cure. Erin is very excited to join Home Instead as her passion for Seniors started from a young age, by volunteering at a retirement home doing odd jobs for those who needed help. But quickly discovered the Seniors wanted more of companion. Erin was extremely fortunate to grow up having both sets of grandparents very active in her life with weekly visits, As she grew older, she started to see their health challenges take over which caused her to be even more involved in their lives. Erin is excited to complete the full circle working with such an amazing organization helping Senior’s continue to live their best life.