Pat Bertelli and Cathy Stone spend six days a week together, sharing activities that they both enjoy: Gardening, cooking, decorating for upcoming holidays, and taking walks. A photograph sits in Bertelli's kitchen of the two of them.

To the passerby observing the pair on one of their daily walks, it would appear that they are mother and daughter, but the two are not even related.

Stone is Bertelli's home health care provider, but their relationship far exceeds that of caregiver to client. The two consider one another as dear friends and companions.

"This young lady here has taught me to cook Italian from scratch," Stone said of 96-year-old Bertelli.

Stone, a licensed medical assistant, has been providing home health care for the past 12 years. She has seen the need for her service grow over the years, to the point where she recently decided to start her own business. From her years of experience, coupled with her desire to help the elderly remain in the comfort of their own homes, came Heaven Sent Caregivers.

"I don't want people to have to put their family members in a rest home because they can't find home care," Stone said.

Bertelli is the ideal candidate for home health care. After she broke her shoulder, she spent five months at Sunbridge Care Center, a local nursing home, but she wanted to return to her own house. Stone's assistance has enabled her to do so.

"Her mind is sharp, but her body's just getting tired," Stone said. "Her legs and arms just don't let her do what she wants to do."

Monday through Saturday, Stone arrives at Bertelli's home to find her waiting for her in her favorite living room chair. She helps Bertelli shower and get ready for the day, and then they enjoy breakfast together. Stone shuttles her to doctor appointments and helps with errands, and walks with her around the neighborhood. Stone leaves at noon and returns at 4 p.m. They take another walk, make dinner together, and then Stone gets Bertelli ready for bed before she leaves at 6 p.m.

For Bertelli, nothing is more important than being at home where she can sit in her favorite chair, sleep in her own bed, work in her garden, and look at photographs of her family arranged on her fireplace mantle.

"There's no place like home," Bertelli said

A second generation life-long resident of Kingsburg, Stone worked at the Kingsburg District Hospital in emergency care and as a nurse night clinic supervisor. In 1996, she was asked to provide in-home care for an elderly couple facing Alzheimer's and numerous health problems.

"It was just going to be for a few months, and it ended up being four years," Stone said of the assignment.

Since then, she has worked with eight other area families, providing care for everything from post-operation recovery to dementia.

She helps with medications, house cleaning duties, laundry, driving to appointments and visits with friends, and personal hygiene. Basically, she helps the patient to live an assisted life in their own home.

She has received so many requests for help from families who would like to see their loved ones remain at home rather than in a nursing facility that she decided to branch out.

"I wanted to provide that help and I can't be in 20 places," she said.

Heaven Sent Caregivers works to match qualified caregivers with patients. Because the needs of each patient differs, Stone selects the caregiver based on individual needs. Stone meets with each patient and their family to determine a schedule, services, and financial arrangements that will work for everyone.

"You kind of have to match personalities," Stone said. "The caregiver has to be carefully selected because they have to understand the needs of the patient."

Stone cared for her own aging parents, so she knows first-hand the stress that can befall families when faced with caring for an ailing loved one. She said that Heaven Sent Caregivers can help alleviate that stress by taking the burden off of family members.

"Then families can come and just enjoy their loved ones," Stone said. "Knowing that their loved ones are taken care of is great peace of mind."

Larry Leibowitz, Stone's business manager, said that home health care is not covered by insurance, so families must make their own financial arrangements. He encourages young people to get long-term care insurance in preparation for the day they might need it.

"There is not enough money in the world to pay for the peace of mind of your loved ones," Leibowitz said.

Heaven Sent Caregivers is accepting new clients, and is also looking for qualified, experienced caregivers to join the team. Caregivers must be certified in first aid and CPR. Stone said that providing companionship is a big part of what caregivers do, but they must be able to handle a medical emergency should the need arise.

Companionship goes both ways when it comes to the relationship between Stone and Bertelli, with Stone considering her patient as much more than just that.

"She brought me such extreme comfort and filled that void for me when I lost my mother," Stone said of Bertelli. "We are best friends."

For more information about Heaven Sent Caregivers, contact Cathy Stone at 643-7115.