Meet Our Team

Working with seniors is something that was instilled upon me from a young age by my mother. When my mother was a volunteer visitor I would occasionally join her on her visits to see Katarina when I was about 8 years old. Katarina was Russian and spoke only a little bit of English. I still remember that Katarina would be in absolute amazement when I would put the straw in my drinking box – she had never seen anything like it and I would show her how it worked! In sharing the same passion with my mother, I continued on during my high school years volunteering at a Long Term Care facility & volunteer visiting also. Later in life when my grandmother was in Long Term Care, just over an hour away, I regularly went to visit her with my three children until she passed away in 2010. Seeing the enjoyment that she would get watching the children run around and engage her was priceless and truly memorable. Being the owner of Newmarket’s Home Instead allows me to work at my passion and sincerely feel like I am making a difference in a senior’s life. I am honored to have the privilege to provide services to our clients and it is something I take very personally.

Greg, father to Liam and Ava, and husband to Shelley, is well known in the field of home care, but his roots have simple beginnings as his earliest recollections of senior activism refer to a time when his mom was involved with charities like Meals on Wheels and encouraged him and his siblings to do the same. Today, his sits on the Board of Directors of the Ontario Home Care Association, has strong ties to the Alzheimer Society Peel (including partnership in the Caregiver ReCharge Program) and focusses the efforts of the Guelph, Cambridge, Caledon, Orangeville office on philanthropy, public education and community outreach. He is an author of the book Trusted Transitions, was presented the Advocacy Award by Home Instead Corporate for his tireless efforts, and since 2009 has driven Home Instead to exceed the expectations of over 1000 seniors and their families, by striving for service excellence.

Aliza has joined Home Instead as the General Manager for the Kitchener-Waterloo office. For over 15 years, Aliza has worked in progressive positions with Fairmont Hotels, Movati Athletic and most recently in retirement with Amica Senior Lifestyles. She has a passion for working with people of all ages to encourage growth and helping you live your best life. Aliza has grown up in a community of volunteerism, with a focus on being in service to our senior population. Having grown up living with her family including her grandparents, she truly appreciates the needs of seniors as they age and helping to create exceptional experiences for them. Aliza is excited to join Home Instead, and continue to be instrumental in helping change the lives of seniors and our community as well as being a servant leader to her peers.

Aliza is married to a Chef, and her home life keeps her busy with her young daughter and two very active dogs! In her spare time, you will find Aliza out with her family exploring new activities and experiences.

Zac connects community partners with home care resources, so that they can assist families find solutions to their unique challenges. He is focused on helping seniors live active lives as independently as possible. Zac is routinely “out and about” in the community, conducting in-service presentations and sharing Home Instead's public education programs (i.e. Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and palliative care). In his spare time, Zac enjoys an active lifestyle which includes working out, playing tennis or doing anything outdoors.

Shubham Pandit brings a passion for people and process to his role as Guelph Home Instead's Recruitment and Engagement Coordinator. With a diploma in HR Management and three years of experience, Shubham excels in various HR functions, including administration, employee engagement, talent acquisition, training, and safety. He believes in building strong relationships with potential CAREGiver’s, taking the time to understand their unique skills and aspirations. His proactive and creative approach ensures he finds the best fit for both our CAREGivers and our clients. Shubham is a lifelong learner who thrives in dynamic environments. 

Geeve has had a lengthy career in the hospitality industry working with several national brands, occupying various roles including General Manager, Regional Manager and Executive Director of Operations. As an entrepreneur, he has owned and operated several independent pubs and restaurants throughout Southwestern Ontario. Geeve has a passion for growing businesses and understands that for successful business growth managers must grow their people first. Accordingly, Geeve has spent his career building teams and relationships, by engaging with all levels of an organization to achieve success together and works hard to be a servant leader. Geeve is excited to work at Home Instead, to give back to the community and supporting you and your aging loved ones. He is married to a Registered Nurse and he and his wife have two beautiful children along with a rambunctious chocolate lab named Portia. He has a passion for cooking, as the kitchen in his home is where you will find him most of the time making an Asian inspired meal, or just baking some delicious butter tarts! Geeve is an avid runner and has competed in several marathons along with many other races across Ontario.

Jerry is an enthusiastic brand champion and after researching Home Instead felt an instant connection to their guiding principles of building trust, taking the lead, and sharing your heart. Jerry is an experienced operations leader with a demonstrated history of success building great teams and growing businesses. Jerry has spent the last 20+ years in operations growing his passion for service excellence and uses his positively outrageous service to delight and astound clients. Jerry specializes in building strong supportive teams while coaching a people first culture across the organization to ensure we are making a difference in people’s lives daily. Jerry is always looking for ways to grow his skillsets and can often be found engaging in conversations with co workers and industry professionals while stepping outside his comfort zone to try something new. Jerry married his high school sweetheart, and they are now parents to 3 amazing children. Jerry spends as much time outdoors with his family as he can swimming, hiking, playing sports and enjoying nature.

Dan connects community partners with home care resources, so that they can assist families find solutions to their unique challenges. He is focused on helping seniors live active lives as independently as possible. Dan is routinely “out and about” in the community, conducting in-service presentations and sharing Home Instead's public education programs (i.e. Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and palliative care). Additionally, Dan plays an active role in supporting non for profits, including Be a Santa to a Senior, Give Tuesday and Give 65. In his spare time, Dan enjoys a good game of golf.

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For over 10 years Paul has been a great resource to family caregivers and community partners.  He is a great listener and empathetic to the demands placed on spouses, daughters and others who jump to the call of supporting an aging loved one.  He does his best to understand your unique situation and will provide you with options that address the challenges you and your loved one face.  He can help you navigate a hospital to home discharge, speak to the value of one-to-one support in retirement or long-term care or assist you in finding a compatible caregiver to support your loved one in any place that they call home, whether those needs be minimal to complex.  He is highly responsive and thinks outside the box; you are in great hands with Paul!  His favorite things: matcha, cycling, travel and his nephews … but not necessarily in that order. 😉

Kristin has spent the past 10 years working in various levels of hospitality and restaurant management, where her constant mantra was ‘we are here to be in the service of others’. This rang especially true in her last position within Toronto Pearson Airport, where simply being present and approachable led her to assisting people of all ages and cultures with anything from directions to medical emergencies and everything in between. An ever-increasing passion for helping others paired with a close relationship with her grandparents and great-grandparents and watching them go through various stages of assisted care, made the opportunity to join Home Instead an easy decision. In her free time Kristin enjoys cooking with her husband, with her specialty being pasta from scratch. She also loves being outdoors, especially if it involves hiking a fun trail or swimming at the beach.

​As the Enterprise Administration Manager, Ramona recognizes the importance and value of providing high-quality services to our CAREGivers, our office employees and our clients. Her extensive experience as office manager and her background in accounting are serving her in managing the payroll, accounting, client invoicing and all other day to day office challenges here at Home Instead. Ramona loves multi-tasking and helping people. She is very excited to be part of the Home Instead team because she gets to do what she loves. In her spare time, Ramona likes to get outside and spend time with her family.

​"I am a greater believer in luck, and I find that the harder I work the more I have of it" is a quote by Thomas Jeffreson that Ray identifies with and which inspires him. Ray finished his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in the Philippines and has since had extensive experience in accounts payable and accounts receivable. He furthered his skills by successfully completing courses in accounting and payroll administration. During those years, he worked for various companies providing accounting services. He also developed strong interpersonal skills and an natural ability to build strong and lasting relationships. Ray knows his talents are the right fit with Home Instead, and in his own unique way, will support the business and provide service excellence.

Erika recently completed her Business Administration – Accounting degree at Brock University. The opportunity to join Home Instead was the perfect next step. She connected with our mission to provide personal care to seniors. She has always enjoyed helping her grandparents with whatever they need and spending time with them, whether that be talking with them over a meal/coffee or playing cards. Providing great customer service has always been important to Erika, as she has always looked for ways to help others in all her past personal and professional experiences. She looks forward to continuing to provide great customer service through her role at Home Instead.  In her spare time, Erika likes to knit and sew, crafts which she picked up from her grandmothers.

 

Erin has joined Home Instead as Manager of Quality & Standards after a lengthy career in the Food Service industry. For over 20 years Erin has had many roles such as lead trainer for Canada opening up new franchisee restaurants, to working within the Franchisee head office in various roles, to finally owning 2 franchise’s along with her husband. She also started a separate food and beverage catering company working with private clubs for the past 11 years. During the course of time, Erin was honoured to be involved with numerous charities such as Heart and Stroke Foundation, Relay for Life, MS Society, and the Canadian Breast Cancer Run for the Cure. Erin is very excited to join Home Instead as her passion for Seniors started from a young age, by volunteering at a retirement home doing odd jobs for those who needed help. But quickly discovered the Seniors wanted more of companion. Erin was extremely fortunate to grow up having both sets of grandparents very active in her life with weekly visits, As she grew older, she started to see their health challenges take over which caused her to be even more involved in their lives. Erin is excited to complete the full circle working with such an amazing organization helping Senior’s continue to live their best life.