In 1998 Andrei Brel and his wife Zhanna founded Juniper Homecare in West Hartford delivering Meals on Wheels. Now marking 25 years and 1,000 meals delivered, the company has expanded to several facets of elder care, all the time focusing on serving the community that welcomed it.
A colorful mural wrapping around the facade of Juniper Homecare’s building, is a tribute to that community.
“It’s about honoring our community here in West Hartford,” said Andrei Brel, founder and president. “This is where it all began for me, so it’s my way of saying thank you.”
Juniper Homecare has topped the list of The Courant’s Top Workplaces survey for a midsize company, receiving high marks for its dedication to both client and employee success.
Founded in 1998, the family-owned business provides resources to assist those who take care of their loved ones and help to people aging at home.
Andrei, Zhanna and their children, originally from Belarus, immigrated to the U.S. in 1993. Anton, who was 5 at the time, serves as the company’s vice president of marketing & strategy. Andrei’s oldest daughter Julia is director of the home care department.
“It’s pretty amazing, 25 years is huge,” Brel said. “It’s not an easy industry to be in simply because a lot of businesses in our space tend to get bought out by larger companies. In the beginning it was just me and my wife. Zhanna singlehandedly helped me start our Meals on Wheels program. Our kids grew up and went to college and then after working successful careers, came back to help with the business. So we are truly family run.”
The midsize company, which started with just a handful of employees, now has around 300 dedicated workers throughout Greater Hartford. It operates adult day centers in West Hartford, Hartford, Hamden and New Britain and serves hundreds of meals every day. The company also offers chore services like cleaning, home modification like wheelchair ramps, and home care assistance.
“We now provide just about everything related to elder home care,” Brel said. “We’re very proud of that fact.”
Juniper Homecare also manages a statewide adult family caregiving program. Family members and friends – or anyone other than spouses – can be compensated for caring for someone in their home under Connecticut’s Home Care Program for Elders, a program of the Department of Social Services, according to Brel. Juniper acts as an oversight agency, and has nurses located throughout the state who make weekly home visits to anyone involved in the program.
“I do support visits for the adult family living program, which focuses on caregivers taking care of our clients in the home. In order to qualify, caregivers have to live with our clients and they really provide the care needed like bathing or dressing, making sure they are taking their medications, or ensuring they are eating. The caregivers’ responsibility is to ensure our clients can live successfully at home, because ultimately that’s the goal,” said Rosa Cruz-LaRosa, director of Juniper’s adult family living.
Cruz-LaRosa said the state does the initial assessment and then Juniper goes out and conducts a full assessment of the caregiver including a background check, mental health exam and screening to ensure they can provide adequately for the client. Juniper Homecare’s AFL department has around 30 nurses on staff in support roles to assist by making weekly home visits across the entire state.
“We ensure the home is safe and we observe what the situation is like,” Cruz-LaRosa said. “But while our clients are most important, we also make sure the caregiver feels supported, the visiting nurse acts as a resource and sometimes the caregiver just needs someone to talk with. So sometimes we are just an ear to talk to.”
Two years ago Juniper acquired Infinity Home Health, expanding its offerings to provide highly skilled services including speech, occupational and physical therapies with around 50 skilled and certified nurses on staff.
“We are unique because we’ve expanded into multiple services, usually a Meals on Wheels company just does that or a home modification company only does that,” Taras Korzhak, vice president of operations, said. “But we also saw a lot of our clients needed more skilled services, so we now provide that for them. We really are providing everything we can to our clients. We listen to their needs.
“It feels good to be part of this company, we’re not a huge company but you can see the growth from just a couple people to where we are now,” Korzhak said. “It feels great to be a part of that growth and share in the company’s success.”
The company is planning on holding a ceremony on Oct. 3 at its West Hartford building to celebrate 25 years in the community with West Hartford Mayor Shari Cantor and Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz. Brel said the event will feature food, drinks, music and festivities and is open to the public.
“It’s double purpose because we will reveal our new mural which honors our caregivers, this one is on the left side of our building, and it’s called ‘mural of love.’ This will mark its official unveiling while also celebrating our caregivers and all that they do,” Brel said. “The other purpose is announcing our 25 years in business, but I don’t want that to overshadow the true focus, which is really honoring our caregivers.”
Stephen Underwood can be reached at sunderwood@courant.com