Meet The Team | Senior Helpers of Bergen County

Meet the Bergen County Office

Senior Helpers Bergen County was started with one theme in mind. We know what it is like to leave your loved one with a Caregiver, so you can rest assured knowing we have picked one that is a perfect match for your loved one!

Ken Nicholas and Mike Sluka each have teenage sons with autism so they understand firsthand the struggle for appropriate care & services that people face. It was this need 15 years ago that motivated Ken, Mike and their wives along with several other families to start REED Academy, a school for children with autism in Bergen County. REED Academy is now one of the most highly regarded schools in New Jersey. REED’s highly-qualified & trained staff provides children and their families with some of the best services available. When Ken and Mike purchased Senior Helpers Bergen County their objective was the same……to find highly qualified caregivers to provide the best care available anywhere in Bergen County. Ken, a former Senior Managing Director for a large investment bank, and Mike, an attorney, work first hand on the business and all live in the territory they serve.

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 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 affordable in-home care. This was the mission-driven spark that started Senior Helpers.

The first office opened in Baltimore 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 Bergen County, like every other location, is fully committed to the original goal of providing dependable and affordable 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.

Ken Nicholas and Mike Sluka were drawn to Senior Helpers because of the focus on providing the best caregiver possible for your loved one.

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, review 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 Bergen County Team

Kenneth Nicholas

Owner

Ken Nicholas chose to open Senior Helpers in Bergen County with his business partner Michael Sluka because of a shared passion for providing quality care to people in their community.

Michael Sluka

Owner

Michael Sluka was drawn to Senior Helpers because he wanted to be able to help families find the best possible care for their loved ones.

Jane Galligan

Director of Community Outreach

Jane Galligan RN is Director of Community Outreach. Jane is a registered nurse and has been practicing nursing for over 40 years. She spent the last 24 years as the director of nursing at an assisted living facility. Jane cared for over 50 elderly patients as well as trained and managed the nursing staff. Her priority was to lead her staff in delivering excellent quality care to their patients. She was always very committed to her residents and their families. She treated every patient as if they were her own family member. Jane has in-depth knowledge of the healthcare industry working with patients in hospice, home care, and medical surgical care. Overall, Jane’s experience helps make the process of home care very easy and guarantees the best possible caretaker for your loved ones.

Meghan Galligan

Executive Director

Meghan has been at Senior Helpers for the past six years, serving as the Director of Business Development. With a strong focus on growth and strategic partnerships, she has played an instrumental role in expanding new accounts and cultivating relationships with unique referral partners. Her expertise in networking and business development has helped strengthen Senior Helpers’ presence in the industry.

Prior to joining Senior Helpers, Meghan spent over 15 years in corporate America, where she built strong business relationships with several major national brands through her work in account management and sales. After the birth of her second child, she and her husband made the decision for her to step away from the corporate world and become a full-time stay-at-home mom. During that chapter, Meghan remained deeply engaged in her community, actively volunteering with her children’s PTO organizations and earning a certification in makeup artistry—a creative passion that allowed her to help people look and feel their best.

Her transition to the home care industry was inspired in part by her mother, a registered nurse, for more than 35 years. Watching her mother make a lasting difference in the lives of others instilled in Meghan a deep appreciation for compassionate, quality care. Now as both a professional and a parent, Meghan understands firsthand the importance of finding trusted support for your loved ones and continues to advocate for families through her work at Senior Helpers.

Lisa Ege

Executive Assistant

Lisa Ege, Executive Assistant, comes to us with 20 years of experience in the health care field. Her experience started in 1994, when she was the caregiver for her father who had Parkinson’s and Dementia. She learned, while navigating through the senior health care system, that searching for and finding quality senior care was a full-time job. She enrolled her father in an adult day program and volunteered to do activities there. Soon she was offered a job there and has worked in various positions in healthcare since. Most recently, she has worked as a Client Care Coordinator for Home Care Assistance of Central New Jersey and as a Staffing Associate for the long-term care, post-acute and behavioral units at the Christian Health Care Center. She is committed to hiring the best caregivers for her clients and their families, never forgetting that she was once the one saying “Who can I trust to care for my father?”

Yamila Pando

Director of Client Services

Yamila Pando is Director of Client Services. Yamila has a profound appreciation for assisting the elderly. She became the sole caregiver for her grandmother in her teenage years who suffered from Alzheimer's disease. Yamila understands the fears that come from seeing your loved ones become affected by this disease with no effective treatment and no cure. When she was given the chance to work for Senior Helpers in 2011, she made it her goal to focus her efforts on quality in-home care. Yamila provides assistance in any way that she can to live up to the company's mission for clients and to fulfill its promises to them. Coordinating in-home assistance to care for a family's loved ones, and relieving families from stress is her number one priority.

Elizabeth Williams

Human Resource Manager

Elizabeth Williams, Human Resource Manager. Elizabeth has been in home care for more than 10 years. Through personal experience coordinating the special needs of her premature son, Elizabeth decided to pursue a career as a CHHA knowing she could make a positive difference in the lives of the elderly or anyone else that needed care in the home. After several years as a caregiver, Elizabeth was promoted to work in the Human Resources department at a major continuing care retirement community where she was in charge of scheduling and managing aides. She has been with Senior Helpers Bergen County since 2013 and is the most recent addition to our office staff. Elizabeth takes great pride in selecting only the absolute best caregivers throughout the hiring process.

Call us today to meet personally with any of our staff and turn what could be a burden of finding appropriate care into a positive experience. Let us do our job so you can spend the most quality time with your loved one. You deserve it and so does your loved one!

Ellyn Ward

Director of Nursing

Ellyn Ward RN, BSN is our Director of Nursing and has been a nurse for over 30 years. She rose in the Healthcare ranks starting as a Nurse’s Aide in a nursing home in her teen years. Those years enabled her to understand and feel strongly about the importance of excellence in care of the elderly and the Alzheimer’s population. This would become a lifelong commitment to the highest quality of care. After receiving her degree from Misericordia University, she spent 10 years in acute care at Chilton Memorial Hospital, 18 years in the Valley HealthCare system. At Valley Ellyn assumed many roles including Hospice RN, Home Care RN, On Call visit RN, and Insurance Coordinator. She has many years in Valley Hospice, Compassionate Care Hospice and Metropolitan Jewish Hospice and Palliative Care. Ellyn received certification in Hospice and Palliative Care, and Assisted Living Administration. Ellyn’s extensive experience and skills help to provide our Senior Helpers clients with a positive and safe caregiving experience.

Elizabeth Martinez

Scheduler

With 15 years of experience in the healthcare industry, I specialize in matching clients with the right home health aides to ensure their comfort and well-being. My career began as a pharmacy technician, where I spent 8 years gaining in-depth knowledge of senior healthcare needs and medication management. This experience has helped me develop a strong understanding of the unique challenges faced by seniors and how to provide personalized, compassionate care.

In addition to my professional background, I am a dedicated caregiver to my 77-year-old mother, which has further strengthened my empathy and commitment to helping others in similar situations. As a mother of three, I bring a nurturing, caring, and kind approach to my work, ensuring that every client receives the best possible care.

I am passionate about making a positive impact on the lives of others by providing not just healthcare, but genuine human connection and support.

Meet the Bergen County Office

Our History

Our process

Meet the Bergen County Team

Senior Helpers Bergen County

Areas We Serve