Carson Valley business aims to help seniors stay independent in their homes

No Place Like Home Senior Care of Gardnerville offers solutions for older individuals or couples capable of managing their physical needs, but who require nonmedical assistance, light housework, meal preparation, and companionship in order to remain at home.

According to Rick Ackerson, founder and CEO, the company's services can be arranged for as little as two hours, or as many as 24 hours, a day. Short-term assistance or longer term care is available seven days a week, including holidays.

When a potential client calls the company, Ackerson said he will arrange a meeting with the client and his or her family to discuss what services are needed.

"Cost is on an hourly basis so hours can be decreased or increased based on changing needs," he said.

Ackerson said his company is licensed as a personal care agency with the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services. He said his caregivers are screened, fingerprinted, bonded and insured, and that special attention is given to matching caregivers with clients to achieve compatibility.

"Elder care has become the top problem in our society today as it replaces child care as the number one issue for the men and women in today's work force," Ackerson said. "Already people are spending more time caring for or providing for the care of their elderly parents than they did caring for their own children. The problem will only magnify with the aging of the population.

"Research shows that older people who remain at home live longer and happier lives than do people of similar circumstances that are forced to leave their homes to live in other environments. No Place Like Home Senior Care can help the elderly remain in the comfort of their own homes for much longer periods of time."

Ackerson said he started No Place Like Home in memory of his grandmother Joyce, who passed away in 2008.

"She struggled with her health during the last years of her life and depended on family to provide care for her," he said. "My mother Connie was instrumental in providing the majority of her care."

He said he founded No Place Like Home with two goals in mind.

"One is to provide respite to family caregivers enabling them to realize actual quality time with their loved ones," he said. "The other is to assist the elderly with staying independent and enjoying that independence, for as long as possible. And to do so with spirit and pride, which is so often lost when health and mobility begin to fade, and one must depend on others to care for them."

Ackerson attended high school in Smith Valley and later spent 12 years in corporate management. Since 2001, he has been in the emergency services field becoming a firefighter/paramedic.

"I am proud to be an integral part of the community in providing seniors with independence and service," he said.

Staff Director Jaymi Miller was born in Bishop, Calif., and raised in northern Nevada.

"I have been in Gardnerville since 1999 and working in the medical field since 1992," she said.

Like Ackerson, Miller said she was affected by her grandmother's death.

"In 2002, my beloved nana started her five-year battle with cancer and passed away peacefully in 2007 in the care and comfort of her own home," she said. "She was able to maintain her dignity and independence due to her family and caring individuals like employees of No Place Like Home, and her dying wish was upheld to pass in her home with her family surrounding her. I am excited to be part of No Place like Home Senior Care to help individuals spend their golden years like my grandmother. With independence, dignity, peace and comfort."

No Place Like Home is located at 1329 Highway 395, Suite 10-196, Gardnerville. For more information, call 392-2000 or visit www.nvnoplacelikehome.com.