A Gainesville Home Care Company Started by a Local Family
Gainesville Home Care is a locally owned, non-medical in-home care agency serving Gainesville and the small towns of Alachua County. We help older adults stay safe and comfortable in their own homes with personal care, memory care, companionship and around-the-clock support. Our office is here in Gainesville, our caregivers live here, and so do the people who answer the phone.
Our Story Starts With One Gainesville Family
Our founder, Elaine Whitfield, spent several years helping care for her mother at home in Gainesville. Her mother wanted to stay in the house she knew, near her church and her garden. Elaine worked full time, so she pieced together help from neighbors, relatives and a rotating list of hired caregivers. Some were wonderful. Others came late, changed without notice or never quite understood her mother's routines.
What Elaine wanted most was simple: one steady caregiver her mother liked, a person to call who actually picked up, and a short note at the end of each day so she knew how things went. That is the agency she set out to build. Gainesville Home Care began with a small group of caregivers and a handful of families, and it still runs on those same three ideas.
I wanted to build the kind of help I was looking for when my mother needed it: someone steady, someone kind, and someone who calls you back.
Elaine Whitfield, Founder
What We Believe About Senior Care at Home
How We Hire and Train Our Gainesville Caregivers
Every caregiver on our team passes a Florida Level 2 background screening, which includes fingerprinting, as state law requires for home care workers. We check references by phone, talk with past employers and meet each applicant in person before we ever introduce them to a family. We look for people who are patient, observant and dependable, and we pay close attention to how they talk about the people they have cared for.
Once hired, caregivers are CPR certified and complete dementia care training, with yearly refreshers. They learn our visit routines, how to write useful visit notes and when to call the office. Because we provide non-medical care, our caregivers do not give injections, change wound dressings or perform therapy. When a client also has a home health agency involved, we work alongside that team so everyone knows who is doing what. Interested in joining us? Visit our careers page.
Meet Dana, Your Care Coordinator
Most families start by talking with Dana Brooks, our care coordinator. Dana takes the first call, comes out for the free home visit, helps write the care plan and matches your parent with a caregiver. After care begins, Dana is the person who checks in with you each week, adjusts the schedule when a doctor's appointment moves and steps in if anything feels off. You will not be passed around a call center. You will have one person who knows your family by name.
The Right-Fit Guarantee
We know that the caregiver relationship is personal. That is why every family gets our Right-Fit Guarantee. You and your parent meet your caregiver before the first visit, so the first day starts with a familiar face. If the match does not feel right at any point, for any reason, tell us and we will introduce a new caregiver at no charge. There are no long-term contracts, so you are never locked into care that is not working. Read more about the process on How Care Works.
In-Home Care Rooted in Alachua County
Our caregivers drive the same roads you do, from Archer Road and Newberry Road to US 441. We care for clients in Gainesville neighborhoods and in nearby towns including Alachua, Newberry, High Springs, Archer, Micanopy, Hawthorne, Waldo, Jonesville and Haile Plantation, and each one has its own page on our service areas guide. We try to match clients with caregivers who live nearby, which keeps visits on time and schedules steady.
Being local also means we know the places your parent goes. We help with rides to appointments at UF Health Shands and the Malcom Randall VA Medical Center, coordinate care around hospital discharges and know which community programs in Alachua County can add support between visits.
What Working With Us Looks Like
- Calls answered day or night, 7 days a week
- A free in-home consultation with a written care plan and written rates
- Care that often starts within 48 hours of the home visit
- Visits from 4 hours up to 24-hour and live-in care
- Notes after every visit, shared with the family
- Private pay, long-term care insurance and VA benefits, with help on the paperwork
If you are starting to worry about a parent at home, call Dana at (352) 352-9346. There is no cost and no pressure. You can also send us a message and we will call you back.
Questions families ask
Is Gainesville Home Care locally owned?
Yes. We are a locally owned agency based in Gainesville, and our founder started the business after caring for her own mother here. Our caregivers and office staff live in Gainesville and nearby Alachua County towns.
Do your caregivers provide medical care?
No. We provide non-medical care such as bathing, dressing, meals, medication reminders, companionship and transportation. We do not give injections, provide wound care or perform therapy, and we work alongside home health agencies when skilled care is also needed.
How are your caregivers screened?
Every caregiver passes a Florida Level 2 background screening, has references checked and is interviewed in person. Caregivers are CPR certified and complete dementia training with yearly refreshers.
What is the Right-Fit Guarantee?
You meet your caregiver before the first visit. If the match ever feels wrong, we introduce a new caregiver at no charge. There are no long-term contracts.
Who will I talk to when I call?
Most families speak with Dana Brooks, our care coordinator, who handles the first call, the free home visit and weekly check-ins. Calls are answered day or night, 7 days a week at (352) 352-9346.
- Florida Statutes s. 400.512: Screening of home health agency personnel (Level 2 screening)
- Florida Statutes s. 408.809: Background screening
- Florida Statutes s. 435.04: Level 2 screening standards (fingerprinting)
- UF Health Shands Hospital, Gainesville
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: Malcom Randall VA Medical Center
