Meet The Team | Senior Helpers of Knoxville - Oakridge

Meet the Knoxville Office

More than 90% of seniors want to age in their own home with dignity but getting the right type of care can seem daunting. At Senior Helpers of Greater Knoxville, we believe getting the best care for your loved ones should not be complicated. We have an exceptional team of care professionals who have helped us build a premier agency that strives to deliver the highest level of client care possible in Knox, Anderson, Blount, Loudon, Roane, Campbell, McMinn, and Polk counties. We work hard to ensure our clients and caregivers are well taken care of so we can fulfill our commitment of always providing excellent service to our aging population for years to come.

The Senior Helpers Guarantee is what sets us apart from other Home Care Agencies

Our process and what we cover at the complimentary assessment includes discussing your loved one’s needs, our services, and determining what is best for your entire family – TOGETHER.

The first step in the process is a complimentary, initial in-home care assessment. The assessment helps you identify the true needs of your loved one and understand your options. We will discuss your family’s goals, your loved one’s specific daily plan and schedule, pricing and payment methods, implementation process, on-going communication, and follow-up plan.

Our commitment of never having a stranger at your door ensures a proper introduction and review of the care plan will always be made by one of our office staff:

In our experience, one of the most difficult aspects of being the client of a home care agency is having caregivers show up at your home without being properly introduced or prepared, or in the case of having a substitute, not getting advance notification of a change – then dealing with a poorly prepared fill-in that can’t provide appropriate care.

Our caregivers are supervised employees, not independent contractors which means Senior Helpers is professional, safe, and reliable home care services for your loved ones.

Senior Helpers pays our caregivers taxes, provides unemployment insurance and workers compensation; performs full background and reference checks and ensures the caregivers are bonded and insured. Senior Helpers also test caregiving skills, verify credentials, and reviews driver license history for safety.

Senior Helpers also provides the BEST Benefits program in the industry to our caregivers!

Senior Helpers of Knoxville also offers all our caregivers the opportunity to attend Gateway Achievement, our Certified Nursing Assistant School. Through this program we are preparing students to take the Certified Nursing Assistant Exam with the state of Tennessee. Our programs include residential one on one training and a blended program which allows you to do your classroom learning remotely.

Our Nurse on staff provides oversight and skilled knowledge that ensures quality care by a fully trained caregiver.

Senior Helpers of Greater Knoxville employs Registered Nurse oversight training to ensure that all caregivers that join our team are fully equipped to provide the best quality care available.

Affordable options with local partnerships offer your family financial support to get care when care is needed.

As you start to explore the full continuum of care options for your loved one, it becomes obvious that elder care can be costly. We have the experience, certification, knowledge, and local partners to assist you in Veterans Administration benefits as well as assistance in navigating your Long-Term Care policies.

Meet the Knoxville-Oakridge-Maryville-TN Team

Laura & Tim Palenkas

Owners

Prior to working in the senior care industry, Laura was in marketing and merchandising for 21 years in Knoxville, TN. She also served on the boards of the Salvation Army and Children’s Hospital of East TN. Tim was self-employed as a general contractor building homes in Maryville, Alcoa, Kingston, and Knoxville, TN. They have two married daughters and have been blessed with two granddaughters. The experience they bring from their former careers along with their passion to help seniors get the support, dignity, and respect they deserve, led them to Senior Helpers. They have experienced first-hand the stress and burden a family experience when having to care for elderly parents who are no longer completely independent, while facing the challenges of everyday life.

Heather Atkins

Director of Operations

A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Heather has many years of experience with business administration, particularly customer service. Her philosophy is that if you are going to do anything, do it well and always strive to go above and beyond. She has worked in Knoxville with local and corporate customers in a variety of business settings. She knows firsthand the difficulties of watching her father pass from Muscular Dystrophy and seeing her mother struggle as the primary caregiver. A few years later her family cared for her grandmother suffering from Dementia and Parkinson's disease. She is very excited to now work with families and their caregivers to better their quality of life. Heather has lived in Knoxville her entire life and would not live anywhere else! Her most important job is being a mom to three busy daughters and supporting her husband in his military career. With three daughters, plenty of time is spent in West Knoxville at Turkey Creek as the area continues to grow and provide a multitude of shopping opportunities. Heather loves spending quality time with her family. Her family enjoys taking day trips to Cades Cove and The Great Smoky Mountains National Park as well as biking and hiking at Ijams Nature Center. They enjoy the views that hiking House Mountain has to offer and the family can’t pass up a day boating on Norris Lake. One of Heather’s favorite places to frequent is Downtown Knoxville, and Market Square. The electric and lively feel draw both her and her family there quite often. She and her family have a very active lifestyle, but that doesn’t stop her from striving to help you maintain your own rigorous day to day schedules while providing your loved ones the quality care associated with Senior Helpers.

Lisa Wilbanks Hooper

Business Development Director

Although Lisa has lived all over, she is mostly a Knoxville girl, graduated from Bearden High in 1988. She graduated from the University of Mary Washington in 1992 with a B.S. in Psychology, with a concentration in learning and motivation. She has worked in retail as a buyer, in Human Resources for outplacement services, and most recently in the senior industry as Marketing Director for the Senior Directory of East Tennessee. She has 2 beautiful children, Augusta 22 and John 20-and the best husband, Mike. Fun fact: Lisa joined the senior industry after caring for her father during his 2-year battle with cancer and experiencing first-hand the toll caregiver fatigue takes on family, as well as the end-of-life process.

Beth Ford, RN, MS

Director of Education & VA Liaison

Beth moved from East Pointe, MI to Maryville TN 30 years ago, and has never looked back. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Nursing and Masters in Counseling from the University of Tennessee. She has been a certified case manager since 2016 and has also worked in hospitals, surgery, home health and renal care. Beth joined the team because she loves working with seniors. Beth is responsible for both CNA schools and training at Senior Helpers, along with being the VA specialist in the group. She enjoys spending time with her husband Keith and their son Nathan.

Teresa Caylor

Client Services and Care Team Manager

Teresa joined Senior Helpers in November of 2020 as our Human Resource & Training Manager. She transitioned into our Client Services & Care Team Manager in April of 2021. Teresa has been in the industry for over six years as a community Liaison in Marketing and Client Services. She moved to East Tennessee in 2008 from Florida. She comes from a background in Education, working in The Blount County School system since 2008. After losing her mother to cancer, she felt the need to change careers and found her calling working with hospice patients. Teresa knows how important it is to ensure a positive experience and provide excellent care for our wonderful clients. She recently was married in Savannah, GA and now has a blended family with eight children and a new grandbaby on the way in March of 2022.

Susan Vieira

Human Resource & Senior Advocacy Specialist

Susan is a middle Tennessee native, having grown up in Nashville. She attended the University of Tennessee where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Therapeutic Recreation. Susan has worked in the senior industry for 20 years. Susan serves on the boards of the Senior Information and Referral Service, and CADES Adult Day Program. She has been an active volunteer for Alzheimer’s Tennessee, Caring Hearts, and the Office on Aging. Susan is a Certified Dementia Practitioner. In 2020 Susan was named the Snowflake Ball Queen setting a record for the most money raised in the 12-year history benefiting the Senior Companion Program. Susan is married to Scott and has a son Harrison. In her spare time, she enjoys her two labradoodles Knox and Ribbie. She also enjoys watching her son play baseball and working out.

Ryan Crawford

Director of Field Operations

Ryan has a combined 29 years of sales and marketing experience, and the last 10 years specifically in the senior care market. He knows Seniors are amazing, and that their life stories span decades of experience, love, challenges, and everything in between. He enjoys hearing these stories of the seniors we have the privilege to care for, all while providing them with the care they deserve during this chapter of life. He loves college football (GO VOLS!) and enjoys exploring, hiking, and fishing in the beautiful mountains here in East Tennessee.

Ann Fisher, CNA

Field Services Coordinator

Ann joined our Client Services Team in February 2022. Tennessee became her home in January of 1983. She has two children and is a grandmother of three. Ann worked as an Accountant for over 30 years prior to coming to Senior Helpers. After discovering her mother had dementia and losing her in 2014, she figured out her true passion wasn’t in numbers at all, it is in helping others. She started health care in a facility where she worked in the memory care unit for over a year and then moved on to home health care. For fun she likes dancing, sewing, knitting & spending time with her grandchildren, family & friends.

Jennifer England

Client Services and Care Team Coordinator

Jennifer was born in Springfield, Missouri, and spent her early childhood on the island of Guam, where her father served the community as a pastor. Both of her parents were early childhood educators and established a faith-based school for local children. At around age 11, her family relocated back to the mainland, settling in Cookeville, Tennessee. She attended middle and high school there before spending three years at Tennessee Tech University studying interior design. She then briefly lived in Murfreesboro, where she studied at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU). Later, Jennifer married and had three children: Amanda (28), Alex (25), and Aaren (22). She first moved to Knoxville in 2000, staying until 2004, and returned again in 2012. In 2018, Jennifer helped care for her father, who had fallen ill with cancer. This experience instilled in her a desire to provide love and emotional support to others. In 2021, she remarried on the beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama, where she and her new husband purchased a home. The following year, her mother-in-law, who was facing health issues, moved in with them. This, along with the desire to be closer to her children, prompted their return to Tennessee, where they bought a home in the Karns area to accommodate her mother-in-law. Before coming on board with Senior Helpers, Jennifer worked as a flight attendant for American Airlines, where she loved the fast pace and believed in going above and beyond for her passengers. Jennifer was fortunate that Senior Helpers responded to her call, offering her an opportunity to better serve those in need of assistance. She enjoys playing golf, taking day trips to the mountains, and traveling. With her loving and compassionate nature, she is grateful to be at Senior Helpers, where she can help make others' lives more comfortable.

Megan Mrozek, BSN-RN

CNA Instructor

Megan Mrozek, Registered Nurse, joined Gateway Achievement in 2024 and has been working in the healthcare field since 2013. She has a medical background in senior care, hospice, dementia, oncology and cardiology health care environments. Megan gained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing though South College, Knoxville and is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Nursing Education. Over the last 11 years, she has worked diligently to provide high quality patient care to patient populations and found a love for mentoring and teaching new nursing assistants. She believes that there are never enough certified nursing assistants because nurses need heroes to! I hope to impart my appreciation for patient care and lifelong learning to those who are entering healthcare as a profession.

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.

We will cover:

Your family's specific goals

Your loved one's daily plan design and schedule

Pricing and payment methods

Implementation process

Ongoing communication and follow-up plan

Meet the Knoxville Office

The Senior Helpers Guarantee is what sets us apart from other Home Care Agencies

Meet the Knoxville-Oakridge-Maryville-TN Team

Our process

Areas We Serve