About Melissa

To whom it may concern: I am writing this letter in strong support of Ms. Melissa V. My wife was diagnosed with dementia in 2021. We started her care in 2024 using caregivers from “big box” caregiver companies. None of them did a particularly good job (a total of 9 different caregivers). Mostly, their performance would be characterized as minimally adequate. We stopped using “big box” caregivers in late 2025 and turned to Care.com in early 2026 in an effort to find a private caregiver. We had over 30 applicants. From this pool we interviewed four people. All of them were well qualified on paper. One of them was Melissa. The choice was easy. None of them came close to Melissa with respect to personality, compassion, credentials, and work ethic. We hired her. She was so good, and it was so obvious, that I felt compelled to give her a $5 per hour raise after the first month. At that time, my wife was ambulatory and understood most conversations. She and Melissa went to the pool, to nature reserves, to have their nails done, to have Kathy’s hair cut, Mellisa talked to her, read to her, sang to her (not well), tried to teach her how to paint, etc., etc. It was like medicine. My wife’s attitude improved. In fact, it improved so much that when we went to the neurologist for her quarterly visit, the neurologist remarked that she felt like Kathy’s disposition had improved markedly. Melissa continued to provide love and care to Kathy until her death. They were so close that I often felt that if Kathy were forced to make a choice, she would probably choose Melissa. About 30 minutes after Melissa left for the day Kathy would often say, “When is she coming back”. In addition to caring for my wife, Melissa helped out with the housework and even interior design of our new house. Because I was overloaded, I would often ask Melissa to do things, such as pick out the decorations/décor of our entryway, etc. She is a self starter. I don’t ever remember having to prompt her to do things. If she saw used silverware/dishes out in the living room, she put them in the sink and eventually into the dishwasher. She took care of the laundry. She helped my wife plant flowers. She even helped cleanup the messes that our new puppy was making. Perhaps the most important aspect of her skill set is that she has significant experience in caring for people that are terminally ill. She’s worked with hospice, hospitals, doctors, nurses, etc. Melissa often made suggestions that I would never have thought about. For instance, in the later days of my wife’s life she was bed bound. The first bed that hospice brought in was okay…….or at least I thought. Melissa immediately stepped in and said, “That won’t do, we need a hydrostatic mattress.” I had no idea what that was. It turns out that they have pneumatic mattresses that can regulate the pressure on different areas of the body. This helps guard against bed sores. Who would have thought? She has good knowledge of medications for dementia patients and often asked for prescriptions for drugs that I didn’t know existed. In short, my wife would have been in significantly more discomfort without Melissa’s interventions on her behalf. I could go on and on, but rather than do this, I would encourage anyone that is interested in hiring Melissa to call me and I will be happy to discuss Melissa’s performance. Finally, I would add that as an academic administrator, I have hired approximately 50 people during my career. Sometimes these hires are iffy as to whether they will work out. Sometimes we are moderately sure that the hire will work. Never, are we totally sure that a hire would work. In Melissa’s case, there is no doubt that she will be an exemplary job for anyone that hires her. Regards, Doug