Tina Kostial brought the national franchise, Visiting Angels to the area with the hopes of providing elderly residents with an option to stay in their homes with the assistance needed to get through the day.

In 2003, Kostial started the company in Berwyn but recently moved to Brookfield because she needed more space for training.

The mission of Visiting Angels is to give the elderly another option besides a nursing facility.

“We wanted to let them stay in their homes where they wanted to be,” Kostial said. “When it comes to the elderly, they don’t want to leave a home they may have been in for 50 or 60 years. When they move to a facility, it is like you have taken away their quality of life.”

Caregivers from the company go into the home and help do housekeeping, meal preparation, grocery shopping, errands, laundry and medication reminders.

“If they can still cook, we let them, we are just there for safety,” Kostial said. “We let them keep as much of their independence as possible.”

Services are affordable, caregivers are paid on an hourly rate, Kostial said. The average number of clients the company has at one time is anywhere from 60 to 70 people.

“We have a huge heart for the elderly, and we are very picky who we hire. They must be compassionate and caring,” Kostial said.

Dorothy Giannini, officer manager, said employees are compassionate because Kostial started the program with that quality in mind.

Kostial said another goal is to let the elderly know they are full of wisdom and still have plenty to offer to society

“Caregivers want to learn from the elderly,” Giannini said. “They learned to cook and life lessons from their clients.”

The company might have changed locations, but the bottom line remains the same, to provide quality of life to its clients.