Today we’d like to introduce you to Chiquita Smith.
Hi Chiquita; so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
When I was a little girl, I was the doctor over all my sick baby dolls. I always wanted to help my dollies feel better. As I grew older, I knew I had a passion for caring for others. I did not know how. After graduating high school, I worked as a private duty caregiver aide. My mother and I would work as a tag team. We were nicknamed the “Dynamic Duo.” We care for many clients in the Missouri area who need companionship. It was so much fun taking clients on day trips, going to the park, playing board games, reading books, and cooking clients; their favorite meals were just some of the things we did to bring smiles to our client’s faces. Once I began having a family, I dived into other careers, but none gave me the satisfaction of caring for clients who needed me. My mother and I would fantasize about opening—a home care business. Unfortunately, my mom became ill and could no longer be the caregiver that she always was to so many.
My mother passed away after being ill for several years. Before my mother passed, my father was her primary caregiver. After her death, I witnessed my father fall into a deep depression due to the grief of losing his soul mate. He was once a vibrant, strong man who became frail after my mother’s death. In January, my father took a nasty fall. I am not positive how many days he lay on the bathroom floor before my sister, and I found him, but we both knew it was a couple. This fall caused my father to need a substantial amount of rehab before returning home. I remember sitting in the waiting room asking myself a series of what-if questions. What if we were there to prevent this? What if we hired someone to look after him? What if we found him, someone, to come into his house to offer companionship? What if we could be in multiple places at one time? In June of 2022, I founded Truly Treasured Home Care LLC. I knew I had to create an agency to help families answer the “what-ifs” so they never had to experience what I did. My mother was tapping me on my shoulder, whispering follows your passion. That is precisely what I did, and I am so glad I did.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I wish I could say opening my agency has been easy-peasy. It hasn’t. Being a new business brings many challenges, including finding quality staff and clients to care for. We are dedicated to finding employees who are compassionate about providing care services to individuals with disabilities, injuries, difficulties with mobility, or illnesses. This means we cannot and do not just hire anyone. They must meet qualifications before they are allowed to be introduced to any of our clients.
As far as finding our clients, again, we are new to the home care world in Missouri. Even though I am part of an excellent support team who offers training, weekly coaching, and guidance from successful home care owners, it takes time to get our agency name out to the community. The upside is we are small and intimate. This means no one will get lost in the shuffle. Everyone will get the individual attention that they deserve. Through our personalized care plans, we can give our clients the needed care services that are all intended to cater to their unique personalities and health needs.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
At Truly Treasured Home Care LLC, we provide non-medical home care services to individuals with disabilities, injuries, difficulties with mobility, or illnesses. We hire only highly trained and competent staff members who are dedicated and experts in delivering home care services in the comfort of our client’s homes.
We are committed to recruiting, training, and retaining competent staff and providing a work environment that encourages personal enjoyment and enhances job satisfaction and performance through recognition and reward. We adhere to the professional code of ethics of the Home Care industry and apply continuous quality improvement measures throughout Truly Treasured Home Care LLC. We work diligently to develop and maintain positive relationships with the community.
We are very proud of our VA program. We actively work to help elderly veterans and spouses of elderly veterans get the home care they deserve. “Aid and Attendance” is a benefit that can provide up to $2,400 per month to Veterans and their spouses who need non-medical care/assistance to help them with activities of daily living in their home or chosen place of residence. There are currently over 15 million Veterans who are believed to qualify for this benefit. Only 3% are now taking advantage of it – mainly because most don’t know it exists or has been inaccurately told by the VA that they don’t qualify. My job is to get this information out to the community. My team works hard to ensure we share the information about this benefit and that veterans are getting assistance to apply.
What sets us apart from our competitors is we go into the home to help our clients apply for this benefit. Yep, that’s right; they do not need to leave home. Our care management team will never tell them to go to their local VA office to apply for this benefit. We are what I like to call a “Full Service” agency. We try to take the stress away from clients and their loved ones. We will ask a series of eight questions to see if they qualify to apply for this benefit; depending on the answers, we will collect the necessary documents and get them on their way to getting the essential home care they deserve. We also know about other programs, so if the client is not a veteran, we have different ways to help them pay for home care. We also offer low private pay rates. Our objective is to care for our clients without them worrying about affordability. At Truly Treasured, we put the “CARE” in-home care.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting?
My advice to those starting in the home care field is to ensure this is your true passion. I knew as a little girl this was something I always wanted to do. I have worked in many career fields, but this is the one I have a true passion for. Because of this, I enjoy every minute of running a home care business. Secondly, be honest. You can not run a successful home care business without honesty and integrity. Well, I guess you can, but you shouldn’t. Truly Treasured Home Care LLC has integrity and honesty because we look at our clients as family. Not just the clients but the client’s loved ones as well. At one time, I was in the same shoes as my client’s families, and in some ways, with my father, I still am. I want to know that the agency I chose treats us with honesty and respect and has integrity. It’s simple for me, treat clients like I want to be treated. Lastly, do not jump into this business for the money. Get in it to make a difference in someone’s life. Bring laughter to your client’s day to help a family get the relief they need. Help a client remain independent in their home for the love of helping someone have a great day, or better yet, a great month. These are just some of the reasons why this field is one of the most rewarding fields you could ever work in.
Pricing:
- Contact us for pricing information
Contact Info:
- Website: https://trulytreasuredhomecare.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trulytreasuredhomecare
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/trulytreasuredhomecare
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/truly-treasured-home-care-chesterfield
Image Credits
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