WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
As a partner in a retirement planning firm, Polson Bourbonniere Derby Wealth Management, I have the priviledge to work with retired seniors, many into their 80s and 90s. We deal with financial matters, certainly, but we also get involved with care, housing, family, estate and many other matters. We are very good at some things, but we also collaberate with other experts to ensure the wellbeing of our clients.
Working with Pat Irwin, founder of Eldercare Canada, has become one of our most important expert relationships. When clients have a strong family-based support system, things can run very smoothly. However sometimes, sadly, the support system is insufficient for the client's needs. Perhaps there is no immediate family, or the needs are complex. Or sometimes a particular challenge needs the experience of a knowledgeable individual to 'get it done'. In any event, we are always grateful for the effort and positive outcomes that result when Pat is involved. Her knowledge of both the processes and the people involved is encyclopedic. Having Pat on the advisory group we assemble for clients gives us great confidence in the solutions being proposed. Needless to say, the clients are grateful for her efforts!
Paul Bourbonniere
I have had the pleasure of working with Pat for over 10 years. Pat is organized, knowledgeable and trustworthy. She has a unique ability working with seniors. While moving at any age is inherently stressful it can be even more stressful for seniors. Pat is able to walk people through the step by step process of moving, listen to the needs and wants in order to customize the experience for each individual. Pat has developed relationships with numerous people throughout the city which her clients can rely on to help guide them. She has an understanding of the different nursing homes, long term care homes, condos, bungalow communities etc that Seniors and their families may want information on before making an informed decision for their next home. I would say it's Pat's personal touch and commitment to serving people who need it most is what makes her so amazing. She gives people a white glove experience that is second to none. I am very happy to consistently refer Pat to my clients, friends and family for all of their elder care needs. Thanks for everything you do Pat!
Jamie Dempster
Pat Irwin has been the angel on my shoulder. I first met her through my realtor and she helped me leave my cluttered and lonely house and find a retirement community. A few months later I had a devastating fall that led to several weeks in critical care. Pat lobbied hard for me to return to my retirement home with appropriate equipment and care. A year later, the hospital bed, lift and wheelchair are gone and I'm thriving. Without her help and support I can't imagine where I'd be. Thank you Pat.
Ron Ruck
Pat Irwin is a miracle worker for whom I have the utmost praise and gratitude. A dedicated, compassionate and knowledgeable professional, she provided invaluable assistance accommodating the needs of my ailing friend. Pat furnished well-informed recommendations to make a safer home environment and provided expert assistance in securing an ideal long-term placement which included personal support. Her expertise and wise counsel even extended to successfully negotiating a particularly difficult Power of Attorney situation. Pat Irwin is indeed a skilled specialist and a truly wonderful human being.
Harvey Houghton
Peter McRae
Our family owes a debt of immense gratitude to Pat Irwin who helped us rally and remotely develop a heartfelt strategy to rescue our brother in his time of need. Thanks Pat, we couldn’t have done it without you.
Murray and Ellen Battle
It’s stressful and scary to watch your parents become vulnerable and in need of help. Obviously we want the best for them, but it’s hard to determine what “the best” is, especially when the parent(s) and children don’t all see things the same way. So it was reassuring to be coached by an objective, compassionate outsider who’s handled similar – and much worse – situations many, many times.
Pat helped all of us by level-setting our expectations, analyzing the pros and cons of different alternatives, and acting as mediator. She came up with creative solutions that were tailoredto our father’s needs and values and that we could all be comfortable with her
Leigh Davidson
Pat Irwin has been a godsend. Faced with trying to assess available care facilities when it became apparent that my aged parents could no longer cope with independent living, I emailed Pat early one morning. She responded within hours, saw my parents that day and had them placed in a week. My mother loved her.
She knows the elder care system and provides great advice and help and a variety of service from placement to storage of excess furniture to procuring needed medical appliances. She has continued to assist me and my sister (who is overseas) as changes have been required as my parents conditions changed. I frankly don’t know how I would have managed over the past two years without her help.
David R. Allgood
Pat Irwin provided her outstanding leadership, expertise, advice, compassion and experience in helping me, and my 81 year old mother, to deal with my mother’s re-location from her own house to a Retirement Home. Pat is totally “client focused” – she has the experience and intuition to completely understand (and predict) her clients needs and to be able to provide advice and solutions. Many of these issues are quite challenging emotionally – both for parent and “child” – and she is able to professionally and practically guide her clients through these complex issues to an effective resolution. She intuitively “understands” how to approach these kinds of difficult issues.
Pat can handle everything for you – and I mean “everything”. Relocation of a parent involves an enormous amount of work and a million details – from going through all the stuff in the current house and disposing of it to the appropriate place, dealing with the parents emotion around this whole issue, getting the house ready to be sold, and transitioning the parent safely and happily to the new home, getting all the details of the new home set up, on and on it goes. Pat ensures that every detail is attended to – quickly, perfectly and as stress free for her clients as it is possible to achieve.
Every aspect was perfectly done – the cleaning up and sorting, packup, the move, the setup of my mother’s new room, etc. She is incredibly efficient. I would not have survived this experience without Pat (nor would my mother.) I am a single professional working woman and am now an only child having to deal with my mother’s issues. I did not have the time or expertise – and Pat took all the worry away for both my mum and me. We relied on her totally and wouldn’t hesitate to highly recommend her. My mother still says ….”…that girl can do anything!
Ginnie Welsman
I first began working with Pat fifteen years ago when my father was dying and her guidance and support through that process was invaluable. Then she took charge of moving my mother cross-border to live near me in the States, handling every aspect of the move with deep concern for my mother’s needs and comfort, both physically and emotionally. Ten years later my mother needed to be moved back to Canada, and once again Pat took charge, making a very complex mission manageable for me and comfortable for her. Now, as my mother’s needs have increased, Pat is still there for her, offering invaluable advice about palliative care and support through her difficult end-of-life process. I would recommend her to anyone seeking guidance and help with their elder parents. She is a total professional, and a pleasure to work with.
Janet Turnbull
Just over a year ago I was faced with what seemed to be an insurmountable problem. I wanted to sell my house and move out of town, which, to many would seem reasonable, but I was stuck. I could not deal with all the clutter that had accumulated in 45 years. The fear was paralysing. Recently widowed, in a house too big for one, children with busy lives unable to help, I didn’t know where to begin. It would take me years, if not forever. I definitely needed help.
My real estate agent informed me that within a week or two I could be ready to sell with help which he could recommend. I was shocked! Then I met Pat.
Pat Irwin, of Eldercare, presented such confidence, excitement, energy, and positivity for the job, I made the first step to sign the deal and get the ball rolling. She assured me she would be there for me from the start to the end. She would get me moved.
It began with preparing for open house. She staged the house with what I already had, but creatively rearranged, sorted and decluttered. This was mostly done while I was absent at my cottage. When I came home, it was another place, so much more presentable. I was stunned!
The house went up for sale. In four days it sold for asking price. Again I was shocked!
Now the work for me began. I fortunately found the house I wanted within a week with a long closing date. My big problem was dealing with what I didn’t want to take with me. Pat calmed me down many times by assuring me I could just decide what I wanted to take, and she would deal with what was left over. I was concerned it might just all get thrown out, and that went against the grain for me, not liking waste, but she assured me she would ethically deal with it all. She had the resources to take it where it could be used or recycled. I just had to sort, which was my choice. She would have done that if I had wanted.
Packing came next. She was happy to arrange it. I wanted to do some packing myself, as I had quite a bit of time to do it. And I sorted what was going and what was staying for her to deal with later. Then she came in towards the moving date with her packing crew who efficiently packed up what was left in one day.
The next day her moving crew arrived and they packed the moving van and got me to my new house. There, Pat helped unpack and arranged my house so I could sleep there comfortably that night. But that wasn’t the end for Pat.
She returned to the first house to remove everything I had purposefully left behind and to clean it for the new owners. That was an enormous job. When I went back to check I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was spotless! Absolutely nothing left and everything cleaned up.
When I got the bill, I was pleasantly surprised at how reasonable it was for all the work she did. It was well worth it!
Pat was dependable, caring, efficient, energetic, creative, personable, ethical, prompt, decisive but flexible, reasonable, and resourceful. Most of all, she made it possible for me to achieve what I never thought I could, especially in a few months. Bravo Pat!
Julie de Corneille
Got a Question?
Call us directly at 416-487-6248
