Having time to smell the roses

At 75 years old, our customer Maureen Filipozzi definitely isn’t ready for a nursing home.

“I’ve got plenty of living left in me,” she says.

Maureen is a loving grandmother of two and an avid gardener with beautiful rose garden in her home. She has lived in her Old Toongabbie home for 54 years and is adamant there are plenty more memories to be made there.

“In the past few years I have had a number of operations and two brain tumours removed. I don’t think I would have been able to get through it all if I didn’t have my home to come back to,” Maureen says.

I’m still very much ‘Miss Independent. I still make my own bed and do my own washing or ironing. My favourite thing to do now is tend to my 35 rose bushes.

Having that little bit of extra help from KinCare means Maureen is able to stay in her own home, where she can enjoy her beautiful garden and all the comforts she treasures.
When her husband and sole carer passed away suddenly, Maureen faced the prospect of leaving her cherished home and garden and moving to a nursing home.

“My husband came in from cutting the lawn complaining of feeling unwell. He was diagnosed with chronic Leukaemia and within days he was gone,” she says.

“He was my carer. He did everything for me and without him I realise how much I relied on him.”

That was when KinCare stepped in, initially providing Maureen with a few hours of assistance each fortnight with odd jobs around her home. KinCare Home Care Workers now visit Maureen every week to give her a little extra support and assistance so she can stay comfortable and safe in her own home.

Maureen says her Home Care Workers have become her friends, helping her to do housework and look after her home, and sometimes taking her on day trips with other customers.