By Lorraine Glowczak
Whether you are an older working
professional who has undergone extensive surgery and needs temporary assistance
with meal preparation, getting to the symphony or your book club gathering or
if your needs require more support in everyday living activities, Compass
Concierge and Companions, LLC is there to provide dignified and respectful
concierge and personal care services.
“Our goal is to reduce stress and
increase joy, no matter the personal circumstance,” stated owner Paula Banks.
Although Compass Concierge and
Companions, based out of Raymond and established in the fall of 2018, is a
private, non-medical, home care business providing concierge, companion and
personal care services, its business model is different from most others.
Banks, who has provided geriatric
care management and healthcare consulting in Southern Maine for over 25 years
and continues to do so, realized that she wanted to provide home care services
as well, BUT she wanted to do it differently.
“There is a great need for these
services and there are many excellent home care agencies out there that do a
great job and which I continue to recommend. But I wanted to own a company
where the employees were treated with the same dignity and respect as our
clients. And I wanted our clients to benefit from the highest level of customer
service and skill from our employees.
It was important to Banks to change
the reality of home care services. How? “Our staff is hand selected and highly
compensated. Our employees are paid 50% of what is charged to the client.”
Banks said.
Compass charges more than most home
care agencies. “I knew it mattered to me that our staff receive a livable wage,
but I thought the higher rate would be a tough sell for my clients.” Instead
Banks was astounded by her clients’ reaction. “I have received feedback from my
clients that they are more than willing to pay a higher rate to know that their
caregiver is well compensated.”
Other ways Compass is different? You
will never see a Want Ad asking for applications. “I only hire people I have
either worked with personally in the past and I know will do the job I expect
or from recommendations from those workers I trust,” Banks began. “I want to go
to sleep at night confident that my clients are provided the safest and best
care available. And it is never lost on me and my staff what a privilege it is
to be allowed into someone’s home.”
Banks, a licensed social worker who
is a certified geriatric care manager and aging life care specialist, has over
30 years of clinical experience working with seniors, their families and
caregivers. She was named a Fellow of the Maine Gerontological Society of Maine
in 2011 and is the past chair of the Board of Trustees at 75 State Street, an
independent and assisted living community in Portland.
A major proponent of
inter-generational learning, Banks has worked in collaboration with high
schools and the University of New England’s Occupational Therapy program to
increase understanding among the generations and to turn young people on to the
idea that working with elders can be life changing, inspirational and fun.
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| Owner, Paula Banks |
The services Compass offers include,
but are not limited to, the following:
Errands, gift buying, shopping,
Making reservations and appointments
Planning and accompanying to social
outings
Pet Care
Supportive conversation
Encouraging, assisting and partaking
in hobbies and activities
Memoir writing, reading, arts and
crafts, game playing
Dressing and bathing
Daily life activities
Laundry and meal planning
2 to 24-hour supervision
“Our mission is to take the burden
off our clients and their caregivers with love, passion, dignity, respect and
fun so they can live their best life!”
For more information, contact Paula
Banks at 415-8990 or peruse the website at
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