Responsibilities

LIVE-IN PERSONAL CARE ASSISTANT IN QUIET, GORGEOUS SETTING

UPDATE: As of July, 2022, we have reopened the search and increased the compensation offered. Please spread the word. Thank you!

Live-in Personal Care Assistant – individual or couple – needed for a 93-year-old man in a large, comfortable house in Ashfield, MA. This is a 25 hour a week, contracted part-time position. A detailed list of duties is below.

Wellspring House is located in the beautiful, lively village of Ashfield, MA, situated between the Amherst/Northampton area and the Berkshires. The house is filled with books and art after 20 years of hosting writers and artists from around the world. You can read more about the retreat and about Preston Browning and his late wife Ann Hutt Browning, co-founders and directors of Wellspring House, at www.wellspringhouse.net.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. We are looking to fill the position by September or October, 2022. To apply, please submit the following (or its equivalent) to Preston’s daughter Sarah Browning at sarahbrowningwriter@yahoo.com:
• Cover letter outlining interest and relevant experience
• Resume and contact information for three references

Feel free to email Sarah with questions. No phone inquiries, please.

A detailed list of the resident assistant’s expected duties is listed below.

Skills, Experience and Education Requirements:

  • Personal care experience is essential; interest in or background in the literary arts a big plus.
  • Fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
  • A working vehicle and a valid driver’s license. 
  • Basic computer skills.

Compensation:

  • $2500/month.  The position is contracted and the care assistant(s) will receive a yearly 1099 tax form.
  • Housing in an on-site, private suite. Two bathrooms are located on the same floor. The care assistant(s) will have access to a large, working kitchen and comfortable living room with a working fireplace.
  • All utilities, including wifi, and laundry facilities provided.
  • Two weeks paid vacation (dates to be coordinated with the family).
  • Open to an individual or a couple.

Other:

  • The family is actively involved.
  • There will be renters in the house and occasional guests.
  • There is another care provider who comes in daily to assist with breakfast and light housework.
  • Start date September or October 2022.

Detailed duties:

Medical / Care Tasks

  • check in with client three times daily and keep in contact with daughter about healthcare issues
  • assist with showering and other personal care as needed
  • help client onto and off bicycle for exercise, 5 times weekly
  • walk with client several times per week
  • prep and provide dinners and dessert for client each night, and occasionally for visiting guests
  • coordinate care with additional support staff
  • assist with breakfast meal prep when additional support staff are not available
  • assist with scheduling doctors’ appointments and assist with calls
  • provide rides to doctor appointments, attend appointments, take notes and report back to the family
  • stock client’s pills (weekly)
  • check pillbox daily to make sure client is taking pills (2-3 times daily)
  • call in prescription refills; pick up prescriptions
  • check client’s hearing aids, change batteries

Household Tasks

  • check and sort mail every other day, forward financial mail to family
  • assist with checking phone messages
  • send out mail, occasional banking when needed
  • maintain contact with family on any issues that arise
  • purchase groceries and household supplies (funding provided)
  • take out compost, trash, recycling
  • water plants throughout house
  • assist with personal and household laundry, as needed
  • stock bathrooms
  • light housework
  • maintain, monitor heat usage (seasonal)
  • set out, replace traps as needed, call exterminator when needed

Seasonal Yardwork/Housework Tasks

  • stock wood in shed, in sun room, and by fireplace, gather kindling (seasonal)
  • shovel snow, salt walkways (seasonal)
  • pick up salt, as needed, from nearby highway department (seasonal)
  • maintain, schedule any house and appliance repairs

Other

  • assist with scheduling social visits
  • attend/assist with visits as needed
  • weekly drives through countryside
  • set up movies for evening entertainment
  • assist with technical issues with computer, email as needed
  • locate files, emails, books etc. as needed
  • assist with client writing projects, as appropriate