HOME HELPERS OF NEW CASTLE PENNSYLVANIA

The New Castle, PA office of Home Helpers opened in September 2009 and is owned and managed by John and Amy (Bertucci) DeSanti, two registered nurses with many years experience caring for seniors and the disabled. After experiencing the difficulty of caring for elderly parents while managing their own busy lives, they sought to provide their expertise and experiences as a resource to others. Like most families in this area, John and Amy were raised in very close-knit families. From a very young age, both John and Amy witnessed family members caring for frail and sick relatives in the comfort of their own homes, with debilitating illnesses such as stroke, cancer, and dementia. These childhood experiences left long-lasting and important impressions that would play a huge role in their adult lives. Then, in 2006, John’s mother Lorraine DeSanti suffered a traumatic injury which, accompanied by her other chronic illnesses, resulted in eight months of admissions in hospitals and rehab facilities. Eventually, her physicians, nurses and social workers strongly recommended she be placed in a nursing home. At the time of her discharge, Lorraine was very depressed, was not eating, could not walk, and was spending entire days in bed. She required complete assistance for all activities of daily living and could not even feed herself. Basically, she had lost her will to live and her future looked bleak. Still mentally sound, she begged her family not to be placed in a nursing home. Fearing that she would spiral further downward in a facility, John and Amy decided to utilize their nursing backgrounds and, with the help of other family members, returned Lorraine to her home and hired 24 hour care. Within a few short months, and with quality home care assistance, Lorraine thrived in the comfort of her own home. She would never walk again, she would always need some assistance, but she returned to a level of independence that her family once thought she would never attain. Gradually, she was able to reduce her dependence on her caregivers. Sadly, Lorraine eventually would succumb to her chronic illnesses in 2009. But her family was able to take comfort knowing that she spent her last two and a half years with a good quality of life, enjoying her home, her family and her grandchildren, including the birth of John and Amy’s twins.