To everybody at Shine at Home: I am so happy that my mom was able to take advantage of your services. She knew she could not continue to live at home alone. She had problems with falling and not being able to get up. The neighbours were helping her out with grocery shopping and laundry. But she was not eating properly because her motor skills made it dangerous to do any serious cooking. We toured several retirement homes, but they were not the right fit for her. She had a compromised immune system, and with many seniors in one place, there would have been too much exposure to germs. She also really wanted to stay in her own home. She was so happy to hear that Shine could provide the services that could enable her to stay at her own home. Your support means there was always someone to catch her when she started to fall. She was able to live with dignity instead of diapers because someone was always there to help her to the bathroom when she needed to go. The Shine team gave her invaluable support with grocery shopping, cooking, keeping the house clean, filing the bills and laundry. They also were a great source of companionship. She loved to show off her family tree albums and to have someone to chat with. Shine made sure her transportation needs were taken care of. They took her car out regularly (so the battery would not die) until she decided to sell it. They got her to her weekly medical appointments and helped her run errands such as going to the bank. When I finally convinced her it would be a good idea to get a push chair, it was so nice to know that she was able to get out and go to the beach or Tim Horton's for outings. She really enjoyed that (I wish I had been able to talk her into that sooner). I personally felt so much comfort knowing that my mom was always well-cared for. It was also so wonderful that she was able to live the life she wanted to live and stay in her own home. One advantage to Shine is that Chris and Sabrina managed all the staffing. If we tried to hire people without an agency, it might have cost less but it would have been a serious on-going concern to deal with problems resulting from a staff member getting sick, quitting or taking vacation time. It would have been especially hard to do this because all of her family is out of town. This was never an issue with Shine. The staff were all so wonderful. My mom looked forward to having everyone come by. She was fairly handicapped in her last few years but was still able to have a completely normal life because of your support. My mom wrote to a large group of us every Sunday to tell us how she was doing. There was always some stories about the good times she had with her Shine support workers. My mom was able to survive much longer than the doctor had expected her to and was able to do it with a high quality of life because of Shine's support. Thanks also for your care in the hospital during her last few days. It is nice to know you were with her and gave her the extra assistance the nurses were too busy to provide. My mom was a very special person and it is nice to know that her caretakers all appreciated that. Thank you to everyone at Shine at Home!