SEQUIM — With Sequim’s growing senior population, KWA Home Care representatives see a greater need for their services in this town than elsewhere on the North Olympic Peninsula.
“The opportunity is there,” said Sabrina Coady, KWA marketing coordinator. “The need is in Sequim.”
KWA makes a point of matching the right caregiver with a client.
“We’re in this to build a better quality of life for senior citizens,” said Camille Irwin, Sequim program supervisor based at 441 W. Washington St.
KWA Home Care has provided household and personal care services to seniors and the disabled around Puget Sound for more than 20 years.
It also has offices at 310 E. Eighth St. in Port Angeles and at 280 Quincy St., Suite D, in Port Townsend.
The nonprofit organization provides services such as assistance with taking medications, shopping, cooking, cleaning, bathing and 24-hour care.
Staff members also help the developmentally disabled find work.
The Sequim office has 60 caregivers serving about 70 clients, Coady said.
Caregivers range in age from 19 to 70, she said.
Founded in 1972
KWA was founded as Korean Women Association of Washington in 1972 in Tacoma to serve Koran women, many of them wives of servicemen, and to help acclimate them into American culture.
A group of Korean woman sold rice cakes and other foods of their culture to raise money to fund the organization.
Today, KWA has offices in many Puget Sound counties and more than 1,000 employees, serving more than 150,000 people a year.
Besides home care, the organization includes Asian and minority services such as help with naturalization.
It offers senior meal sites and personal safety services such as support for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
Other services
The organization also provides emergency services such as basic food outreach, and health services such as cancer support and nutrition classes.
KWA provides low-income senior housing around Puget Sound.
Coady said the organization is looking into providing such housing in Sequim.
KWA caregivers are allowed to meet those they could be taking care of, and if the client and caregiver agree it is a good match, then they team up, Irwin said.
The caregivers also work to maintain close relationships with the children of clients.
Low-income clients pay monthly and can qualify for assistance through the state Department of Social and Health Services and Medicaid.
Coady said caregivers are trained to meet state regulations and must pass a test to qualify within 120 days.
Continuing education is routine, said Irwin, giving as an example a class this week offered through her office, “Meditative Breathing.”
Irwin said as supervisor, she serves as a sounding board resource for her caregivers.
KWA Home Care in Sequim also sponsored a team of at least 17 with Discovery Memory Care, 408 W. Washington St., who traveled to Silverdale to participate in the 2010 Olympic Peninsula Memory Walk on Saturday.
For more information, see www.kwaoutreach.com or phone 360-582-1647.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
