Meet The Team | Senior Helpers of Madison

Meet the Madison 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 — Madison, we believe getting the best care for your loved ones should not be complicated. Our owners, Lisa and Dennis, are passionate about helping people in need, especially the seniors in our area. Dennis’ passion partially stems from firsthand experience when he was younger as a caregiver for his grandfather. Lisa and Dennis are committed to delivering the best possible in-home care to seniors in the Madison community and surrounding areas.

We take in-home care seriously and make it a priority to provide the highest level of client service possible. Since 2011, we have built an exceptional team of care professionals, each committed to remaining at the forefront of the in-home care industry through our proprietary ongoing training and education programs.

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. Since 2002, 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 Madison was proud to join the system in 2007. We, Dennis and Lisa Fleischer, have owned it since 2011. We, too, are fully-committed to the original goal of providing dependable and affordable in-home care with well-trained caregivers. We have been lucky to serve hundreds of seniors in our community over the years, and we are committed to continuing to provide uncompromising levels of care to all our families.

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 Madison Team

Lisa Fleischer

Owner

As owner, Lisa coordinates the business operations of Senior Helpers. Lisa’s vision is to provide the highest quality home care possible. She works to ensure that the entire SH team has not only the capabilities to do their job, but the heart to do it as well. Her compassion for seniors and strong business experience has allowed Senior Helpers to continue to grow in Dane county and the surrounding areas. Lisa is proud to be part of a business that enables seniors to remain safe, happy, and independent in their homes by providing consistently great, kind, loving care to as many seniors as possible without jeopardizing the quality of care provided. Once you are a client of SH, you are forever a part of “The SH Family”!

Dennis Fleischer

Owner

As Owner, Dennis coordinates the business operations of Senior Helpers. As a young man, Dennis acted as a caregiver to his grandfather and is happy to be able to work in an industry that helps people in need. Dennis’s vision is to provide affordable, quality home care for seniors. His compassion for seniors and strong business experience has allowed Senior Helpers to continue to grow in Dane county and the surrounding areas.

Tanya Sutton

Director of Operations

As Director of Operations for Senior Helpers, Tanya works diligently to oversee both office operations and client care. With more than 20 years in the healthcare industry in a variety of settings, and a Certified Social Worker, her passion is ensuring that the clients, families and community partners are provided with excellent care while caregivers are supported. She believes that integrity and passion for service = success in business. Tanya loves training caregivers and community partners in topics such as Caregiver Grief, Stress Management, Customer Service, Hospice and Dementia. She enjoys working with the office and caregiver teams to brighten our clients' lives and help them enjoy quality of life in their homes.

Leslie (Lizzie) Gernon

Case Manager

As a Case Manager for Senior Helpers, Lizzie works with clients to ensure that their needs are being met. She also provides assessments for new clients, and communicates with caregivers and family members to offer support where needed. Lizzie has worked in the healthcare industry for over 30 years in a variety of positions. She began her career as a volunteer in a nursing home and continued her career with seniors as a Recreational Therapist, Marketing Director, and Executive Director for memory care communities as well as a Sales Manager for an assisted living. She proudly serves on the Advisory Board for the Alzheimer's Association, South Central Wisconsin Chapter.

Rebecca (Becky) Geoghegan Smith

Case Manager

As a Case Manager for Senior Helpers, Becky is committed and passionate about caring for, and working collaboratively with clients, families and other members of the Senior Helpers Team. Becky is a Social Worker and has been working in the healthcare industry for 15 years. She has worked in a variety of roles and settings, including Nursing homes, Admissions and Marketing, Administrator of a memory care facility and hospice care. Becky has a strong passion for working with the older population and will advocate to carry out goals for quality of life while maintaining dignity, respect and independence. Becky truly enjoys listening, problem solving, and getting to know clients. She is humbled and honored to be given the opportunity to work with Senior Helpers Clients and families.

Kelly Haas

Case Manager

As a case manager for Senior Helpers, Kelly believes in treating the client, families, and cg with dignity and respect. She has over 30 years of experience in the healthcare field, starting as a hospital volunteer. She has since worked in skilled nursing and assisted living facilities, home care, and hospice. She became a Licensed Practical Nurse in 2012 and has concentrated in the long term care field. Kelly has been with Senior Helpers for over 5 years as a caregiver and looks forward to providing excellent customer service for clients and their families.

Kelly Knippel

RN Case Manager

As an RN Case Manager for Senior Helpers, Kelly is dedicated to helping seniors stay in a place that they consider their home. Kelly has been in the healthcare field for over 16 years, 12.5 years as a nurse, working in a mixture of settings from plasma and lab to urgent care, including acute and primary care settings. Her passion has been helping people reach their goals through health and fitness. Kelly is a strong client advocate and enjoys listening to seniors tell stories of their own experiences. She looks forward to a rewarding career at SH, working with seniors, their families and the VA community.

Betsy Calabresa

Lead Scheduler

As Lead Scheduler for Senior Helpers, Betsy supervises all client and caregiver schedules. She is in constant communication with our caregivers to arrange quality services and care for our clients. By looking at each caregiver's skill level, location, character traits, and previous experience, Betsy diligently seeks to find the best match for each client, ensuring each client's needs are met. She feels fortunate to be a part of such a caring and rewarding environment.

Eileen Stearns

Scheduler

As Scheduler for Senior Helpers, Eileen undertakes a wide-range of responsibilities. She assists with caregiver training and as a stand-in caregiver in emergencies. Her superior caretaking abilities provide comfort and peace to our clients and their families while her dedication in the office ensures that even the smallest tasks are managed well. Besides assisting our schedulers, Eileen works with the HR team, screening applicants and completing reference checks.

Nicole Thurman

Scheduler

As a Scheduler for Senior Helpers, Nicole works to manage all client and caregiver schedules. She maintains communication with our caregivers to arrange quality services and care for our clients. Nicole also assists with training caregivers to ensure that our entire staff is knowledgeable and prepared with the skills needed to provide our clients the care that they require.

Melissa Watters

HR Manager

As the HR Manager for Senior Helpers, Melissa is responsible for the management and retention of our current caregivers as well as seeking out new caregivers to join the Senior Helpers - Madison team. She oversees the hiring and initial training of our caregivers as well as encourages and facilitates ongoing training to ensure our caregivers have the necessary skills to provide our clients with the best care possible. She is in constant communication with our staff to ensure that all questions are answered, and all needs are met. Melissa is excited to work in such a positive and impactful establishment.

Andrea Merkes

Executive Administrator

As Executive Administrator for Senior Helpers, Andrea provides direct support to Dennis and Lisa by assisting with payroll and invoicing, inquiry follow-up and handling computer support needs in the office. She is responsible for determining health insurance eligibility and maintaining it. She assists in whatever area is in need whether it be scheduling, HR or client services. Her dedication and diligence to accuracy ensure that tasks are done in a timely manner and that no detail is missed. She feels great reward in being a part of the SH team and the exemplary care that is provided to the clients.

Colleen Whittow

Office Coordinator

As Office Coordinator for Senior Helpers, Colleen helps to ensure the office is running smoothly. Her friendly voice on the phone facilitates communication between clients, caregivers, office staff, and the community. In addition to managing our call center, Colleen assists HR and is an integral part of keeping the office highly organized.

Lili Torres

Office Assistant

As Office Assistant for Senior Helpers, Lili supports a wide variety of office operations from managing caregiver documents to assisting with scheduling changes. Between handling and directing incoming telephone and in-person traffic, Lili works diligently to assure great communication between all facets of the business. Lili feels extremely blessed to work with such a wonderful group of people towards the mission of ensuring a better quality of life for Senior Helpers’ clients and their families.

Meet the Madison Office

Our History

Our process

Meet the Madison Team

Images from Senior Helpers Madison

Areas We Serve