Home is one of the strongest words in the English language because it evokes so many images and emotions. It is a refuge and resting place and the inspiration for countless writings.
There are many fine nursing homes and senior communities, but in recent years there has been a campaign to allow people to remain in their homes if they wish, creating a need for such providers as Blake Home Health.
Transplanted New Yorker Dionne Jackson established Blake Home Health in 2008 in Richmond, with the dedication to provide “quality, compassionate care to elderly and disabled individuals in the comfort of their own homes.” The operation has been serving people from Richmond to Charlottesville to Northern Virginia. The recently opened Peninsula branch is fully staffed, and Jackson, its director, as well as Gwendolyn Crawley, assistant director, are welcoming new clients.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, population estimates released in June, “The median age continues to rise. The nation’s population has a distinctly older age profile than it did 16 years ago.”
Jackson says, “We provide personal care and mental health assistance. Our care is personalized to the individual. We give the quality of care that they (the clients) should have to fit their individual needs. And we treat the elderly, disabled and children.
According to the 2015 American Community Survey, there are “2.6 million grandparents responsible for the basic needs of one or more grandchild (sic) under age 18 living with them,” and 1.5 million of those grandparents are in the labor force, many undoubtedly needing assistance with their young charges. And 2010 Census data notes that there are 56.7 million citizens in the country classified as disabled.
“We have a good, dedicated staff,” Crawley says, that includes registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, certified nursing assistants and personal care assistants. Blake Home Health offers monthly, 40-hour personal care assistants certification courses.
Blake Home Health is a full-service provider, experienced and knowledgeable in all financial aspects of home health care and offering in-home personal and respite/companion care, mental wellness and mental health skill building and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) certification courses.
Jackson graduated as a psychology major from the City University of New York. She gained her day-care experience in New York City, where she also taught mathematics for four years in the Bronx borough. She and her husband Eric, an insurance professional, have a son, who is a firefighter, and a seven-year-old daughter. When she is not helping people, she enjoys making jewelry. “I also like to travel and I enjoy reading.”
Crawley earned an associates degree and has 17 years experience in home health care, working her way up with various providers from staffer to her present position. She is grandmother of 10, and she loves spending time with them.
TO THE POINT
Blake Home Health
Address: 11815 Fountain Way, Ste. 300, Newport News, Virginia 23606
Contacts: Dionne Jackson, director, office: 757-926-5241, cell: 804-503-9594; Gwendolyn Crawley, assistant director, phone: 804-244-0924
Fax: 888-314-9510/804-716-6283
Website: www.blakehomehealth.com
E-mails: admin@blakeeducationalcenter.com, gcrawley@blakeeducationalcenter.com
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