Meet The Team | Senior Helpers of Lake Minnetonka and Surrounding Areas

Meet the Lake Minnetonka and Surrounding Areas office

More than 90% of seniors want to be able to age in their own home with dignity but getting the right type of care can seem daunting. At Senior Helpers of Lake Minnetonka and Surrounding Areas we believe that getting the best care for your loved ones should not be complicated. We recognize the growing need for in-home care services, and with our passion for helping others, we are committed to delivering the best possible care to seniors in the Plymouth community.

We take the opportunity to provide care in your home seriously and make it a priority to provide the highest level of client service possible. We have built an exceptional team of care professionals, each committed to remaining at the forefront of the in-home care industry through our proprietary ongoing training and education programs. You can feel confident that your loved one is in good hands with Senior Helpers.

Meet the Lake Minnetonka and Surrounding Areas Team

Kaitlin McDaniel

Owner

Kaitlin has worked in healthcare her entire career as a Speech-Language Pathologist. She enjoyed building meaningful relationships with patients and their families during a critical period time in their life by educating, advocating and caring for the “whole patient” and their support system. In the last several years the changing traditional healthcare system has made it more difficult to do those things that are now considered “above and beyond.”

Kaitlin found Senior Helpers when searching for a way to be able to provide the highest quality of care to individuals in need and feels that in-home senior care is the “above and beyond” that traditional healthcare is lacking. At its best, home care is a form of preventative care and rehabilitative care that enhances independence and quality of life. Kaitlin has always told her patients and families that her job as a therapist is to “maximize potential at every stage through compensation and skill building” and that remains her goal as a home care provider.

At Senior Helpers of Lake Minnetonka, we invest in high quality education and training for caregivers. We have a proprietary assessment, LIFE Profile, that is supported with 15 years of research and focuses on decreasing the risk of hospitalization. This assessment leads to better care plans and better outcomes. We also stress the importance of re-assessments to ensure the care provided is achieving the goals created and remains appropriate. This approach of assessing, treating and then assessing the results of your intervention so you can modify treatment accordingly is something she strongly believes in as a medical professional.

Kaitlin has been married to her husband, Casey, for almost 12 years. Together they have 3 amazing children, Mallory (6), Connor (4) and Logan (year and a half). They also have a silver lab, Mac, who will be 12 years old this summer. It can be hard to find free time with 3 children, but when she can she loves to spend time outdoors with her family and friends. In the summer you will usually find them on the bike trials with a crazy combination of bikes, tag-a-longs, and/or trailers or enjoying the day on a boat. They stay busy throughout the year with activities, such as hockey, dance, soccer, t-ball, piano, and swimming.

Jean Connor

Operations Manager

Jean has a bachelor’s degree in Physical Therapy and has worked in acute care for over 40 years. Her career has included providing rehab services to adults and managing rehabilitation departments, including physical therapist, occupational therapists, and speech therapists. Working with people and helping others was her initial motivator to get into healthcare and has continued as her goal throughout her career. Jean’s background will be valuable in assessing your family member’s safety in the home, as well as ensuring all caregivers have the training and support required to provide the highest level of care. She is looking forward to supporting you and your loved one through the process and providing the services needed to help them age in place.

Jean has 2 adult children, and 2 adorable grandchildren. She enjoys sewing, knitting, and gardening in her spare time. She is one of 8 children in her family, so she has taken care of and supported not only her parents, but her older siblings through the aging journey.

Our History

Senior Helpers was founded in 2002 by Tony Bonacuse with the help of Peter Ross after their firsthand experience in caring for their respective family members. Tony and Peter identified a need that was not being filled properly by the other companies. They realized that most seniors would prefer to age in their own home rather than move into an unfamiliar institution. Unfortunately, the options available to most seniors were very limited. Most seniors did not have access to well-trained, dependable and accessible in-home care. This was the mission-driven spark that started Senior Helpers.

The first office opened in Baltimore, Maryland, and quickly developed a reputation for delivering excellent in-home senior care with their well-trained staff of professional caregivers. Based on the success of the Baltimore location, the company began to expand. Over the past 13 years, the Senior Helpers family has grown to include a network of more than 300 locally owned and operated franchises across the United States.

Senior Helpers of Lake Minnetonka and Surrounding Areas was proud to join the system in 2023. Like every other owner, we too are fully-committed to the original goal of providing dependable and accessible in-home care with well-trained caregivers. Nothing is more important to us than being the best available resource for seniors and families in our community. We are lucky to serve hundreds of seniors in our community, and we are committed to continuing to provide uncompromising levels of care to all our families.

Our process

The first step in the process is a complimentary, initial in-home care assessment with a Senior Helpers consultant. This assessment can help you understand the true needs of your loved one, and your options. Together we can discuss their needs, our senior care services and determine what’s best for your entire family.