Amber Klienhans, owner/administrator of Faith by Choice Home Care in Sequim, makes one thing clear almost immediately: “If my employees are not supported, my clients are not supported.
“If your caregivers aren’t treated right, they’re not going to be able to provide good care. It’s a full circle. In my experience, caregiver staff have not been treated well as a whole and we, as a company, are trying to change that.”
With nearly half of her life spent in the field of health care, the 34-year-old Klienhans has seen the industry as a certified nursing assistant, social worker and manager of a home health care agency. Now, with her own company since June 2014, she feels empowered to provide the kind of support she believes both her clients and employees deserve.
“We do train our own caregivers in the staff classroom,” said Klienhans, who is a certified instructor through the state in the 75-hour Home Care Aide course. “The big thing is I’ll be able to train my own staff the way I know they should be trained, which makes for better caregivers — that’s for sure.”
Through its 26 employees spread over Clallam and Jefferson counties, the company provides services such as routine personal care, hygiene assistance, laundry, cleaning, shopping, meal planning and cooking, rides to doctor appointment and errands, medication reminders and 24-hour non-medical care so that its clients may remain in their homes with assistance and still maintain some of their independence.
“Sometimes clients feel like they’re losing their independence by having a caregiver so ours are trained to offer ‘a helping hand.’ They really love their clients. When a client’s independence is taken away, there has to be a balance between the company, caregiver and client,” Klienhans explained. “We try to educate clients and families because they need to know their rights. The biggest thing we do is being an advocate — seniors get taken advantage of a lot.”
Klienhans said she strongly encourages clients and family members to go through an agency for security reasons rather than just pluck someone out of the want ads. Faith by Choice conducts background checks with fingerprints on all of its applicants, plus it is bonded and insured.
“You’ve got to be careful these days. A lot of seniors are taken advantage of and they don’t deserve that. They’ve earned the right to enjoy their lives to the fullest in the way they choose and not the way somebody else chooses,” Klienhans said.
Regarding the diagnoses of the agency’s clients, Klienhans said, “Dementia is a very common one, hip and back surgeries and strokes. We also work with Assured Hospice, Home Health at Olympic Medical Center and Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County. We all have to work together as a team to do end-of-life care as long as it doesn’t have any nursing to it.”
Klienhans said the process of procuring home care starts with the client, family or friend contacting Faith by Choice for a consult, generally in the client’s home. During this conversation, Klienhans provides a wide scope of information about the client’s choices and level of care required, tailoring it to each individual.
“It’s all about information — even if I can’t provide the services because I’m licensed for private pay only, I will refer clients or help them get on Medicaid and other programs,” Klienhans said. “The information is out there — it’s just people don’t know where to get it.”
The company’s moniker came from two sources — the first to honor a former client named Faith and the other because, said Klienhans, “We are a Christian-founded company but we don’t push religion on anybody. I just think that’s what gives us a good foundation of love, kindness and not judging people.
“We’re pretty awesome and we will do what it takes to get the job done.”
Faith by Choice Home Care
Amber Klienhans, owner/administrator
Location: 262 W. Bell St., Sequim
Phone: 477-4422
Hours: 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday/10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday-Sunday; 24-hours on-call
E-mail: Amber@faithbychoice.info
