We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Bernadine Hillman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Bernadine, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the best or worst investment you’ve made?

Bernadine, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

As a child I was raised by my father’s sister, who was in her 50s, then when she passed, at age 62, I was adopted by my aunt’s cousin and wife who were in their 60’s. In my younger years of life I grew to love being with the older generation of people. I believe this helped me to develop an interest in interacting with senior citizens. When I was in high school I worked in the hospital for a short period of time as a volunteer assisting patients with basic needs. I was considered a candy striper due to the uniform I was given to wear. It was a small group of us but yet when we attended to the needs of the patients it was a big rewarding task. I would feel good after leaving the hospital knowing I was a help to someone that needed that extra attention.

As I became older I worked for several home care agencies, in doing so my interest became stronger in being an aide to the elderly. I discontinued working in home care for a while to work in an office setting thinking this may be best. I did well for a short period of time, but I came to learn that home care was my God given purpose. Once upon a time I was an introvert thinking if I worked in an office setting this could be my solution to shy away from people but yet make a living for myself. Oh how I was wrong, my mindset was on working in the office, but my heart was on caring for the elderly. I later became interested in caring for the internally ill.  This next journey of my life I worked for a hospice company where most of the patients were Geriatrics. For this company I worked full time as a Home Health Aide, Certified Nurse Assistant and Certified Hospice Palliative Nursing Assistant. While working for hospice I gained experience, knowledge and skills.    When I worked for hospice the patients would tell me, you are so gentle and compassionate. This common catchy compliment of a phrase became my business name, G&C, AKA, Gentle & Compassionate Senior Home Care Services. Shortly after quitting my job of 17 years in 2022, I became a freelancer working my home care business which was established in 2007. During the time I worked for hospice I was working my home care business part time. I discontinued my business in 2020 due to the pandemic and started back up in 2022. In April of 2022 I received my first client as a subcontractor for a local home care company. In the month of June of 2022 I had the opportunity through word of mouth to receive my own client. That referral started me well on my way to working fully for myself as a Senior Companion and Care provider.

What sets me apart from other home care agencies, I provide services to ages 65 and older helping the family as much as possible to keep their loved one within their familiar surroundings. The objective of the business is to assign one, no more then three Care Providers including myself if necessary to a client. This will eliminate multiple caregivers coming in and out of the home.

My specialty is companionship and respite services.

The companionship service is for the seniors who need to be accompanied to social events, appointments, family visits, restaurants, short term trips, (local and out of state) and recreational outings.

The respite service is for the primary caregiver who may need to take a break or unable to leave their loved one alone. Whether it’s to go grocery shopping, go to a meeting, take care of some business, or just want to relax, G&C does provide specialty services of convenience. Respite for short term trips local or out of state is considered with advance notice.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best resource of new clients for me is through word of mouth and through Area Agency, on Aging 1-B.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

What helped me to build my reputation within the home care market is being trustworthy, reliable and dependable.

Contact Info:

• Other: Gentle & Compassionate Senior Home Care Services LLC business contact is 586-822-3412. The areas that are serviced by the business is within the limited suburban areas of the Southeast Region. Cities such as Novi (central location), Bloomfield Hills, Canton, Commerce, Farmington, Farmington Hills, Keego Harbor, Lathrup Village, Livonia, Lyon Township, Milford, New Hudson, Northville, Orchard Lake, Plymouth, Plymouth Township, Sylvan Lake, Southfield, South Lyon, Walled Lake, W. Bloomfield, Wixom and Wolverine Lake. Outside service area depending is considered a special exception.