Meet The Team | Senior Helpers of Metro Portland North

Meet the Metro Portland North Office

More than 90% of seniors want to age in their own home with dignity but getting the right type of care can seem daunting. At Senior Helpers Metro Portland North we believe that getting the best care for your loved ones should not be complicated. Norm and Marcia Harris opened the Senior Helpers Metro Portland North office because of their passion for helping others and their interest in the growing need for in-home care services. Norm and Marcia are committed to delivering the best possible in-home care to seniors in the Metro Portland North community.

We take in-home care seriously and make it a priority to provide the highest level of client service possible. Over the years 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.

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 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 affordable in-home care. This was the mission-driven spark that started Senior Helpers.

The first office opened in Baltimore 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 Metro Portland North, like every other location, is fully committed to the original goal of providing dependable and affordable 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.

Norm and Marcia were drawn to Senior Helpers because of their own experiences with senior family members and concern about care for the elderly.

We have been lucky to serve hundreds of seniors in our community over the years, and we are committed to continuing to provide uncompromising levels of care to all our families.

Our process

The first step in the process is a complimentary, initial in-home care assessment with a Senior Helpers consultant. This assessment can help you understand the true needs of your loved one and your options. Together we can discuss their needs, review our senior care services and determine what’s best for your entire family.

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 Metro Portland North Team

Norm Harris

Owner

Before joining Senior Helpers, Norm served in administrative roles in hospitals and clinics up and down the West Coast. He discovered his passion for seniors as a hospital junior volunteer, but family experiences with dementia and end-of-life have had the greatest positive impact on his career. Norm and his wife, Marcia, live in Vancouver, WA. He loves spending time with his six adult children and four grandchildren, visiting places where he can speak Spanish, and taking walks outside in the rain.

Marcia Harris

Co-Owner

Marcia has always had a keen affinity for volunteering with the goal of enriching the community. She has spent much of her adult life volunteering for her church and local schools, leading after-school programs and serving on the local school board. At Senior Helpers, besides being co-owner of the business, Marcia has the privilege of onboarding new staff as well as training experienced caregivers in Alzheimer/dementia care and Parkinson's care. In her free time, she enjoys playing with her grandkids, gardening, and canning fruit in the summer.

Jacob Miller

Human Resources Manager

Being born and raised in the Portland area, Jacob has always had a heart for the Pacific Northwest. He has spent his entire life in Oregon, even through college, where he went to Portland Bible College. Before joining the Senior Helpers team, Jacob worked for adidas nearly 5 years. Jacob has over 10 years of experience in sales and is constantly looking for ways to serve and support people. In his free time, he loves to play basketball, go hunting/fishing, go on hikes, and spend time reading. But most of all, Jacob loves coffee!

Elena Foley

Community Relations Coordinator

After moving to the PNW 15 years ago, Elena and her two children found their permanent home in Vancouver. She has over 20 years of customer service experience and has been in caregiving for three years. Prior to coming aboard at Senior Helpers, she was pursuing a nursing degree at Clark College and enjoyed volunteering at Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center.

Denise Graham

Registered Nurse

Denise Graham is the RN for Senior Helpers. She has been a nurse since 1975 and has had many experiences within many areas of nursing and patient care. She loves her job because she gets to meet wonderful clients and interact with our exceptionally good staff. Our goal is to keep our clients in their home, if possible, at the quality level they enjoy. She always enjoys interacting with the clients and to see a smile on their faces. It warms her heart.

Kim Schmidt

Scheduling Manager

Kim has lived in the Pacific Northwest her whole life, recently moving to Vancouver from Portland with her husband and son. She graduated from Mount Hood Community College in 2018 with a degree in Child Development and Early Education. She has over 17 years’ experience in customer service in the finance industry, however helping others and making a difference in the lives of children and seniors has always been her passion. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, going on outdoor adventures, and experiencing new things. She is looking forward to growing with Senior Helpers in their mission to provide the best possible care to their clients.

Our Philosophy of Caregiving

When it comes to explaining the mission of Senior Helpers, Norm often says it this way:

"The truth is nobody will love your Mom or Dad more than you do. Nobody!! But it's hard to be a son or daughter when you have to be Cinderella, too."

The notion of professional caregivers taking on "the chores" so family members can spend quality time with their elderly loved ones drives much of what we do at Senior Helpers. Norm is committed to helping families find the right balance of professional support and family time during periods that can be challenging and stressful for everyone."My greatest wish for families is to be able to look back on these experiences without any regrets,"Norm says.

Whether the need for caregiving support is the result of a gradual aging process, or stems from an unanticipated event like a fall or hospitalization, Senior Helpers caregivers focus not only on the household tasks to be performed, but on hearing the stores and experiencing the laughter that comes from learning about a person's life accomplishments. Again, Norm says,"One of our primary goals is to help our clients remember who they were, before they needed our help."

Meet the Metro Portland North Office

Our History

Our process

Meet the Metro Portland North Team

Our Philosophy of Caregiving

Areas We Serve