POULSBO — Homewatch CareGivers owner Sandra Alford knows firsthand the challenges associated with caring for a loved one in their twilight years and balancing day-to-day responsibilities.

“When I was working at Boeing my grandmother got really sick and I had a hard time caring for her,” Alford said, recalling the numerous hard decisions she had to make during that time.

Maintaining her normal responsibilities in addition to assuming the provider role for her grandmother, who was in declining health, created a great deal of stress that threatened to sour that relationship, she said.

“It got to where I didn’t want to go see her and there weren’t many people who did this type of work,” she added.

After leaving Boeing, Alford said her own experience made her want to alleviate that stress from others who were finding themselves in similar, difficult situations involving loved ones.

“There’s very little we can’t do as an agency,” she said. “We allow elderly people to stay at home, which is where they’d rather be.”

Her agency does everything from running errands and handling household chores for a couple of hours a day to 24-hour in-home care for clients who need it, Alford said.

“We find a lot of the elderly are very lonely,” she said. “We will come in and play cards, put puzzles together, and it helps break the loneliness.”

The agency also has a couple of certified nursing assistants who are able to provide an extra level of care and work with in-home nurses to ensure clients are following their doctors’ instructions.

“The elderly deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and we work hard to make sure our quality is what it should be,” she said.

To that end, each of the caregivers is carefully screened. Alford also personally takes the time to ensure that each client-caregiver relationship is a perfect fit.

“Everyone has a special kind of people they like and they have to be compatible and like each other,” she said, noting that the agency will do whatever it takes to get the right combination.

After doing a needs assessment, Alford said the next step in the process is providing the prospective client that report in addition to a free estimate before the relationship begins.

Caregivers are matched with clients on a trial basis and if any issues arise during that period, another caregiver will be assigned until the client is satisfied.

“It’s on a trial basis, because you can’t always tell from an hour meeting,” Alford said.

The agency accepts private insurance, but doesn’t accept Medicare or Medicaid. However, it does offer a veterans program.

For more information about Homewatch CareGivers, call Sandra Alford at (360) 698-2747.