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| Marcia
Ives, Owner |
About Our
Administrative Staff |
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I created With a Little Help as a labor of love in 1999. After many years of working in the special education and mental health fields, I was seeking a change. My search led me to a position at a retirement community where
I immediately discovered that being around and working with seniors brought great joy to my heart. It became clear to me that many of the simple needs of seniors in our communities were not being met,
so I began organizing a business that would provide useful services for seniors, their families, and their caregivers.
In 1976, I earned an AA degree from Columbus Community
College in what was then called Mental Health and Mental
Retardation.
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I spent the next 15 years working a variety of positions in the
mental health field. Laced in between my professional positions,
I created several businesses (advertising, lawn and garden care
and special event food concessions).
I lived and worked in Ohio, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana and moved to
Seattle with my son in 1989 to return to school. I graduated from Seattle
Pacific University in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree with a
self-designed major in Psychology, Special Ed and Business Management.
Currently I enjoy my volunteer work as the
2nd Vice President on the Board of Directors of the Wallingford Community Senior
Center. I am also a member of the Private Duty Home Care
Association, both nationally and locally, which helps keep me current with
issues regarding home care and gives me great ideas about how to best serve both
our caregivers and clients. I am a member of the North End Senior Care
Coalition, Eastside Aging Providers and C.O.P.S. (Coordinators of Patient
Services). These local groups bring me into contact with other
professionals who are helping seniors, along with the opportunity for further
education. I regularly participate in a case study
group sponsored by the Alzheimer's Association of Washington.
Real-life complex situations involving clients with dementia are
presented and we brainstorm solutions. I find the shared
experience of those participating in the roundtable to be
invaluable.
Last but not least, and taking me out of the
senior industry, I greatly enjoy my experiences as a volunteer with Habitat for
Humanity. I
have had fabulous educational and cultural experiences building homes in
Seattle, on a reservation in South Dakota, in a township in South Africa, and
most recently on the steppes of Mongolia.
I come home from these journeys reinvigorated and happy
to return to the work I love.
Our steady growth since January 1999 has affirmed that I have been guided in the
right direction. I feel greatly blessed by this opportunity to be of service to
seniors and their families.
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With A Little Help
Administrative Staff
We believe this work is extremely
rewarding as we daily match loving caregivers to seniors in need
of “a little help”, and provide peace of mind to both
seniors and their families. |
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Jeanne Coeuille
Director
of Client Services
Jeanne has worked for With A Little Help since 2000. She
started as a caregiver and eventually moved to our
administrative office and became our office manager. Jeanne
was raised in Seattle and graduated from Seattle
University. She has always been attracted to jobs that
offered flexibility and a high level of one-on-one contact
with people.
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Kelli Nakayama
Client
Care Manager
A
Southern California native, Kelli has worked in the
nonprofit social service sector since 1996. After
graduating from the University of California, Los Angeles
(UCLA), Kelli moved to the Emerald City, where she began
working as a grant writer and communications specialist for
a community-based health clinic in Seattle’s International
District. Kelli became a part-time caregiver for With a
Little Help (WALH) in 2005 and joined the WALH office staff
in March 2006.
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DAVY KIM
Care Coordinator Lead
Davy is the first woman in her family to
attend college. She majored in Sociology/Social work and minored in
French at Seattle University. She speaks Khmer, French,
and English fluently. Davy has worked much of her career as an advocate
for adults with developmental disabilities and mental illness. Prior to
joining the With a Little Help team, Davy worked as a behavioral
rehabilitation counselor with foster children. |
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 BARBARA
RICHARDS
Care Coordinator
An actual Seattle
native, Barb left town when only 5 weeks old (running from the law
is her story though there is absolutely no truth to it!) Being an
oil company brat led to living all over the country, settling in New
Jersey and returning to Seattle and the University of Washington in
1968. She graduated with a degree in Art. Always wanting to be a
“Jill-of-All-Trades”, Barb has done a variety of jobs but mostly
using food as the medium of art. She cooked professionally for 20
years, 15 with her own catering business, That Added Touch, Inc.,
where she matched people and foods. Barb came to caregiving and
With a Little Help in 2007 a few years after the exquisite
experience of being with her aunt and father at the end of their
lives. For Barb, it was seeing the Circle of Life. In her words,
“When we are born we are loved, supported, nurtured, given the
training wheels until we say (sometimes kicking and screaming) I’ll
do it myself! As lives circle around, we again have the opportunity
to take care of or be taken care of…sometimes kicking and
screaming.” Barb became a Care Coordinator in 2008. “What a
wonderful opportunity to match people and caregivers, to be part of
a team that supports, nurtures and celebrates these wonderful lives.
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 PAMELA
J. JONES
Care Coordinator
Pam joined With A Little Help in May, 2007 as
a caregiver, and then as care coordinator in the fall of
2007.
Born
and raised in Canada, she spent most of her school years
globetrotting across Canada, the US and Europe with a
younger sister as Air Force kids. Graduating from the
University of Denver (too many years ago to tell,) with a
degree in advertising, she moved East to New York to begin a
25 year plus career as an art director.
Pam’s
parents retired on Vancouver Island and after many years of
traveling West to vacation with them, the deteriorating
health of her step-mother (diagnosed with Alzheimer’s), made
moving to Seattle the next step. Over the course of the next
eight years, until her father died, and a full time care
solution was found for her step-mother, almost all available
time was spent traveling back and forth to the Island
assisting in full-time care.
“Now we travel up to Vancouver, B.C., where
we can more easily visit our step-mother. I see how much
easier and more comfortable her life is with wonderful
caregivers. They are wonderfully compassionate people, and
have really inspired me!” |
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Jillian Graham
Human Resources Manager
Jillian began working as a caregiver for With a Little Help
and then joined the administrative staff in 2005. She grew
up in Northern Virginia and has been in Seattle since the
late 80's. She worked for years in the corporate world but
left wanting a simpler life style and meaningful work.
Jillian is delighted to work with the "best group of
co-workers and caregivers who daily inspire me with their
dedication, kindness and service. |
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Carol Comer
Marketing Director
Carol began working for With a Little Help in 2002.
Prior to that she worked 9 years as the Assistant Office
Manager at a non-profit organization that promoted independent
colleges in Washington. Carol was born and raised in
Rhode Island and has lived in Atlanta, San Francisco, New
York, Florida and points beyond. She attended Johnson
and Wales
University in Rhode Island before moving to New York City.
While in Atlanta, Carol worked several years with FEMA in the
early 90's and was employed by Neiman Marcus for 8 years.
Her volunteer work includes the Chicken Soup Brigade, Bread of
Life Mission and working with homeless women. Carol
became interested in working with seniors after caring for her
own mother who was a stroke victim. The stroke left her
mom dependent on others for all her needs. Carol found
that being one of her mother's caregivers gave her a warm
sense of fulfillment. After her mother's passing she
felt an emptiness that needed to be filled. With a
Little Help was the first step in that direction and has
continued since joining the organization. |
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Liz Mulligan
Project Manager
 Liz
has worked for With a Little Help, Inc., since May 2000.
She works on special projects in the office and remains the
caregiver for 3 wonderful clients that she has worked with for
many years. She grew up in
Utah, graduated from Utah State University and retired after 30
years of service at the University of Washington as a manager of
a health sciences department. When Liz’s mother had a stroke in
Utah, Liz took a 3-month leave from the University to stay in
Utah and help her parents. Her mother had to go into a facility
when Liz returned to Seattle. Frequent trips to Utah and trying
to help from Seattle gave her deep compassion for family members
who do not live near their aging parents. According to Liz, “I
love working for With a Little Help as I know we make a
tremendous difference in the lives of our clients and their
families. I find this very gratifying.” |
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Sarah Berg, RN
Consulting Nurse
With a
Little Help contracts with Sarah to provide nursing advice
and supervision. Sarah graduated from the University of
Washington with a BA in English in 1977. She then joined
the Peace Corps and went to teach English in Chad, Africa
for 2 years. This experience taught her a great deal about
understanding other cultures, and how people live in other
parts of the world. It was in Chad that Sarah decided to
become
a nurse, because she wanted to do something more
useful. She graduated from Michigan State University in 1987
with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Her first job was in
Seattle at Ballard Hospital on a Medical/Surgical floor. In
Sarah’s words, “There I began my real nursing education. The
experienced nurses on that unit guided me through the shocks
of my first year as an RN: the incredible suffering we
witness, the small things we can do to help.” After a year,
Sarah went to work in nursing homes. In the ten years she
spent in long-term care facilities she learned how to care
for the frailest of the frail, the very disabled, the dying,
the whole spectrum of dementia and mental illness. She was a
charge nurse, a rehabilitation specialist, and a middle
manager. She then went on to be a visiting nurse. This led
her to her current business, consulting and supervising the
care of patients in their own homes. According to Sarah, “I
help people stay in their homes, despite severe
disabilities, if that is their wish. And I help them to have
the very best possible care and quality of life. I believe
strongly in the power of patience and love in helping
patients, families, and caregivers in these difficult
situations." |
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CHARGER
Office Cat
 Charger
is Director of Napping and Well-Being at With a Little
Help. One of his primary duties is lying in the potted
plants (see photo). He feels this is beneficial to his job
performance and he does it as often as his schedule allows.
His other duties include researching sunny spots and
snuggling with Marcia on an “as needed” basis. He is known
for his steady and charismatic personality. Charger is,
himself, a senior so his insights into senior care are based
on personal experience. In Charger’s words, “Life is good
when there is lots of one-on-one caring attention.”
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With a
Little Help is a Washington Licensed Home Care Agency with caregivers
serving
seniors in Greater Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland, Mercer Island & King County.
We care for the ones you love the most.
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at
206.352.7399 or info@withalittlehelp.com