Living Well Home Care expands to Carroll

From left to right are TJ Pauley of United Bank, Jo Fiscus, office manager of Living Well Home Care, Sara Poepsel, owner of Living Well Home Care, Shilo Bladt, director of HR and Compliance for Living Well Home Care, Kim Petersen, director of support services for Living Well Home Care and Chase Prebeck of Templeton Rye on Friday.

One should expect to see more caregivers wearing pink in Carroll.

As of this past spring, Living Well Home Care has expanded its services towards senior citizens living in Carroll.

Based in Harlan, Living Well Home Care provides in-home caregivers for senior citizens. The provided caregiving for a client can include medication management, meal planning, respite care, Alzheimer’s care and transportation.

Sara Poepsel, owner of Living Well Home Care, said she previously worked at a Harlan nursing home as the marketing and admissions manager.

During her time at the position, Poepsel said she’d receive many calls asking if they provided homecare for elderly residents who were not yet ready to live in a nursing home.

By seeing the community’s need, Poepsel put together a business plan and proposal for Living Well Home Care, officially opening in 2016.

Over the last seven years, Poepsel said Living Well Home Care has grown to six counties in Southwest Iowa, now having over 35 employees.

For at least five years, Poepsel said she was asked to expand their services to Carroll. As of this year, Poepsel said the time was right to move locally.

“We want to ensure what we are doing has the very same high quality that we offer our clients in the other six counties,” Poepsel said. “Providing top quality care is our No. 1 priority. We have a passion for serving our clients by giving them the very best caregivers possible.”

Shilo Bladt, director of HR and Compliance for Living Well Home Care, said she focuses on recruitment, onboarding and retention of staff.

“My goal is to find the best caregivers to take care of our clients and to ensure that they receive all of the training that they need to do the job well,” Bladt said.

On Friday, Living Well employees celebrated with community members during a Chamber Coffee, hosted by the city’s Chamber of Commerce.

“Carroll has a reputation of being a very supportive business environment and that was demonstrated [Friday] with the turnout and the support that I have received so far in setting up operations in Carroll,” Poepsel said.

Bladt said the community reception has been heartwarming.

“It was fantastic to have so many people show up and support what we’re doing,” Bladt said.

Knowing every client is different, Bladt said they try to meet the families where they’re at.

“We step in when the family needs to step out, and so our services are very individual based,” Bladt said “It’s what the client needs, it’s what the family needs and we know how important the small things are, so we focus on that.”

Living Well Home Care also serves Shelby, Eastern Pottawattamie, Audubon, Cass, Crawford and Harrison counties.

Bladt said they’re seeking employees, both part-time and potentially full-time, to work as personal care associates (PCAs), meaning they’ll receive training under the company. They’re also searching for experienced certified nursing assistants (CNAS).

According to the company’s website, caregivers are supervised by a Registered Nurse who is trained in senior care. Bladt said it’s important for them to find employees who are passionate about their work.

“We want the right people working with our folks,” Bladt said. “We wouldn’t want to send someone to take care of your Mom if it’s not someone we would have take care of my Mom.”

Bringing care to those who provided care to others, Bladt said it’s an honor to help serve senior citizens.

Poepsel shared a similar sentiment.

“These are our parents, these are the parents of our friends,” Poepsel said. “These are our teachers, our nurses, our business people. They matter and we care.”

Log In

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,racist or sexually-oriented language.PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.Don't Threaten. Threats of harming anotherperson will not be tolerated.Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyoneor anything.Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ismthat is degrading to another person.Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link oneach comment to let us know of abusive posts.Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitnessaccounts, the history behind an article.