Meet The Los Angeles-Central-West, CA Team | Senior Helpers of Los Angeles-Central-West

Meet the Los Angeles-Central-West office

More than 90% of seniors want to be able to age in their own home with dignity but getting the right type of care can seem daunting. At Senior Helpers of Los Angeles-Central-West, we believe that getting the best care for your loved ones should not be complicated. We recognize the growing need for in-home care services, and with our passion for helping others, we are committed to delivering the best possible care to seniors in the Los Angeles-Central-West community.

We take the opportunity to provide care in your home seriously and make it a priority to provide the highest level of client service possible. We have built an exceptional team of care professionals, each committed to remaining at the forefront of the in-home care industry through our proprietary ongoing training and education programs. You can feel confident that your loved one is in good hands with Senior Helpers.

Our History

Senior Helpers was founded in 2002 by Tony Bonacuse with the help of Peter Ross after their firsthand experience in caring for their respective family members. Tony and Peter identified a need that was not being filled properly by the other companies. They realized that most seniors would prefer to age in their own home rather than move into an unfamiliar institution. Unfortunately, the options available to most seniors were very limited. Most seniors did not have access to well-trained, dependable and accessible in-home care. This was the mission-driven spark that started Senior Helpers.

The first office opened in Baltimore, Maryland, and quickly developed a reputation for delivering excellent in-home senior care with their well-trained staff of professional caregivers. Based on the success of the Baltimore location, the company began to expand. Over the past 13 years, the Senior Helpers family has grown to include a network of more than 300 locally owned and operated franchises across the United States.

Senior Helpers of Los Angeles-Central-West was proud to join the system in 2020. Like every other owner, we too are fully-committed to the original goal of providing dependable and accessible in-home care with well-trained caregivers. Nothing is more important to us than being the best available resource for seniors and families in our community. We are lucky to serve hundreds of seniors in our community, and we are committed to continuing to provide uncompromising levels of care to all our families

Our approach

We never send a stranger- all too often, home care organizations will send a caregiver to your loved one’s home without being properly introduced or prepared. Or in the case of a substitute, without any advanced notification or an understanding of your loved one’s needs.

Our caregivers are supervised employees, not independent contractors- we are not a referral service or “nurse registry,” where workers are assigned to cases, leaving families to sort through the details themselves — whether taxes get paid, background checks have been performed or if they’re bonded and insured, etc.

Our caregivers meet California minimum training requirements, are clear of active tuberculosis, and are background checked with the California Department of Social Services. More importantly, we take care of our caregivers to they can take care of you and your family.

All caregivers are employed by Senior Helpers Los Angeles-West, which accepts all employer responsibilities; including important employee and client protections, such as worker’s compensation coverage, unemployment insurance coverage, and employerpaid share of payroll taxes. We do all these things in advance, along with testing skills, verifying credentials, and speaking with families they’ve worked with before.

Our caregivers receive constant additional training- we train our caregivers in many different areas, and are especially proud of the training they receive for Dementia & Alzheimer’s disease. Our exclusive Senior Gems® program is based on the GEMS® techniques, strategies, and overall approach to care which was created and developed by Teepa Snow, Positive Approach, LLC.

There is no greater responsibility than entrusting someone with the care of a loved one. We know this firsthand because we live it with our own family. Call us and let’s get started.

There are only four kinds of people in the world- those who have been caregivers, those who are caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers. -Rosalynn Carter

We will cover:

Your family's specific goals

Your loved one's daily plan design and schedule

Pricing and payment methods

Implementation process

Ongoing communication and follow-up plan

Meet the Los Angeles-Central-West Staff

Rick Henkin & Eric Shani

Owners

Most seniors would like to stay in their own home, sleep in their own bed, eat their own food, and surround themselves with familiar belongings. It’s about aging with dignity.

At Senior Helpers Los Angeles-Central-West we believe getting the best care for your loved ones should not be complicated.

Personal Experience

My name is Rick Henkin and my son, Eric Shani and I take the opportunity to provide inhome care seriously and make it a priority to provide the highest level of client service possible.

During the last seven years of her life, my Mom, Millie, remained in an assisted living facility where she was confined to a single room with just a few scattered personal possessions. I witnessed the sadness as her world closed in around her.

Ironically, while Eric and I were preparing to open our office, his mom, my wife, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. It definitely gives us first-hand understanding of what family caregivers are going through.

Family Caregivers

Studies have shown that family caregivers have higher levels of depression and increased rates of mortality.

Most of us are part of what’s known as the sandwich generation, because we’re still trying to help our kids and at the same time trying to help our parents. It’s a tremendous emotional burden.

One thing that a lot of us don’t think about is the indignity to our parents of having their son or daughter bathe them, dress them, or take them to the bathroom. Do you think that’s how they want to be remembered?

Wouldn’t you like to just visit your loved ones and enjoy your time together because you know that someone else is taking care of their personal needs? Most seniors have told me that they would much rather their family members supervise their caregivers rather than be their caregivers.

Meet the Los Angeles-Central-West office

Our History

Our approach

The Art of Caregiving with Rick Henkin

Meet the Los Angeles-Central-West Staff

Areas We Serve