Latest update April 23rd, 2024 12:59 AM
Jun 16, 2019 News, Special Person
Pull Quote: “When I returned I saw there was a need for this…I saw many elders who were abandoned; they had no one to take care of them and I realised that was the plight of many old folks, and I saw that the service I could offer could be well utilised here.”
By Sharmain Grainger
Have you ever heard the adage ‘Behind every successful man there is a strong woman’? Well that’s not what this article is about. Instead this is a story that completely embraces this notion in reverse and nobody even saw it coming – not even the couple involved. You see it was a process in the making even when their respective lives were heading in two completely different directions.
This is the story of Genevieve McDonald-Patterson and her husband Desmond Patterson (Junior) who decided to take a chance on each other and today are able to offer a service that many people may agree is second to none.
The two are co-partners of the Heaven’s Day Care and Home for the Elderly situated at KuruKururu on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway. According to Genevieve, “It is a home away from home for the elders we care for…we don’t want them to feel like they are in an institution we want them to feel right at home and that is how we keep the place for them”.
Indeed the idea for such an institution was birthed out of Genevieve’s passion to care for the elderly. And she certainly understands the true meaning of caring for the elderly, as such a role was thrust upon her when her father became visually impaired and eventually blind back in the day.
“It was a tough time. I was just about nine or 10 years old and to see my father go through that was very hard. He needed as much help as he could get, and so I grew up knowing what it is to offer elderly care…it has been about 27 years now that my father has been blind,” said Genevieve during a recent interview.
While the intended focus of this article is about her passion for caring for the elderly, Genevieve made it clear that it was the support of her husband, Desmond, that really helped her to significantly expand her horizon and bring her dream of a full-fledged Day Care and Home for the elderly to a reality. It is quite understandable that Genevieve would want to share the spotlight with her hubby today, given the fact that it is a day that men – fathers in particular – are celebrated. Yes today is Father’s Day and in recognition of this, Genevieve said she was not prepared to go it alone.
LIFE HAPPENS
But a few years earlier they hadn’t a clue that fate would see to it that their paths would cross and they would become so inseparable. This is in light of the fact that Genevieve hails all the way from Bartica, Region Seven, and Desmond was born and raised miles away at KuruKururu.
Reflecting on her past, Genevieve, who was born into this world on March 10, 1978, to parents Godfrey McDonald and Carlotta John now Atkinson, remembers having a humble upbringing in Bartica. She was the second of six children born to her parents’ union.
Genevieve remembers 108 Second Avenue, Bartica being home. She attended St Anthony’s Primary School before moving
on to Bartica Secondary. “It was really fun growing up in Bartica…we had a very happy family. My dad was the main breadwinner; he worked at the National Insurance Scheme,” she recalled.
But then things took a turn for the worse when her father started to experience vision problems. “We started to face a lot of challenges as a family…Dad knew he needed to support the family, so even though he had vision problems he kept working,” Genevieve reminisced. Her father eventually became completely blind and hadn’t a choice but to leave his job.
“My father didn’t get to retire gracefully…he didn’t even get to sign for my little sister as a result of his blindness, so she never got his name,” said Genevieve, who remembers having to quickly embrace adulthood because of this daunting reality that was thrust upon the family.
So it was no surprise that she was barely an adult when she decided that she wanted a family of her own. Genevieve decided to tie the knot and before long she was a young mother of four – Oneil, Nickelle, Nechelle, and Nacassey. Things were going quite well for her at first, so much so that she even migrated to the United States with her family.
DESTINY UNFOLDS
However, things didn’t work out as planned for her young family and this eventually saw Genevieve having to fend for herself. She revealed that while her children remained in the care of her husband, she had to learn to do everything for herself in a land that she was still getting acquainted with. She had to educate herself properly in order to have a firm grounding.
“When all else failed, it was education I had to turn to, to really get myself together,” said Genevieve, as she recalled studying to become a Medical Assistant in Manhattan, New York and then a Pharmacist Technician. But in the midst of all this, she recalled that she already had a working knowledge of a profession she had embraced ever since she was a girl – caring for the elderly.
This of course is what she felt was her true forte, and she was certainly good at it when she decided to take this route.
After working for some time, Genevieve decided that it was time that she returned to her homeland and possibly even introduce her service to those in need.
“When I returned I saw there was a need for this…I saw many elders who were abandoned; they had no one to take care of them, and I realised that was the plight of many old folks, and I saw that the service I could offer could be well utilised here,” Genevieve shared.
In preparation for the introduction of this envisioned venture, Genevieve had to meet the various local requirements, including completing a course in Geriatric Nursing Care at the Adult Education Association. On completing this programme, she started to offer home care services to a dedicate client before incorporating a weekend clinic for the elderly at a location in Alberttown, Georgetown, which she introduced in May of 2015. But Genevieve knew in her heart that she wanted to do so much more for the elderly.
As she reminisced on the journey to realising the establishment of Heaven’s Day Care and Home for the Elderly, Genevieve recalled that she had little time for her personal life. She was by then very involved in activities of the Disabled Persons’ Network, which she had become connected to because of her own father’s disability and a number of other organisations too. She had by then started to give annual support to the Guyana Society for the Blind, which took the form of the provision of awards for students of the CXC programme the institution offers.
A FRIEND REQUEST
But Genevieve, like any human being, yearned for companionship. She eventually found herself in a relationship, but that simply didn’t work, as she and her love interest didn’t share common goals. Convinced that she was destined to remain alone, Genevieve threw all of her energy behind her business. Socialising for her became perusing posts on social media.
“I was just scrolling through Facebook one day and I saw this friend request. I didn’t recognise the person and so, at first, I decided to ignore it, but then eventually I decided to accept the request,” Genevieve recalled.
The friend request was from Desmond – who is now the love of her life, husband of three years, and committed business partner who supports her in all of her endeavours.
Desmond, born on July 10, 1978 to Sylvia and Desmond Patterson, grew up at KuruKururu, and lived there all his life. He is the penultimate child of a brood of six. He attended school in the very community and became known for his cycling passion which saw him indulging in quite a few competitions before eventually deciding to delve into the gold mining industry.
He’d acquired quite a sizeable piece of property at KuruKururu which he was still considering how it could be best utilised up to the time he saw Genevieve’s photograph on Facebook and somehow wanted to reach out to her. The soft-spoken Desmond isn’t quite sure what made him reach out to her, but he eventually became convinced that it was destined for their lives to connect.
After chatting for a bit and learning that each other had been married and were divorced, she with four children who lived abroad and he with a son, Stephen, who also lived at KuruKururu, the two decided to make their friendship formal. This saw her accepting an invitation on November 30, 2016, to travel to KuruKururu to see how Desmond lived. Their attraction was mutual. He was completely intrigued by her feminine drive to get things done, and of course, loved her idea for the day care and home for the elderly too. She simply gushed over his polite, caring and very loving ways.
TRANQUILITY
Genevieve had imagined finding a place in Georgetown to set-up the day care and home venture, but it all made sense when Desmond shared the idea of such a facility being established in the tranquil community of KuruKururu. “He not only opened his heart to me, but his home and so much more…he wanted to help me bring to life this idea I had for years, and it was amazing,” said a smiling Genevieve, as her loving eyes wandered over to Desmond. “It made sense to do that,” he chimed in, as he returned an equally loving glance.
Soon after recognising that they had found what they were looking for their whole lives, the two on March 13, 2017, decided to make their union official. This of course saw Genevieve making KuruKururu not only her home, but also the base of her business operation, which she now shares with Desmond.
Heaven’s Day Care and Home currently has the capacity to offer accommodation for up to 10 live-in elders, a day care section for persons who require care for their elders when they are unable to, and twice-monthly doctor’s clinic, mainly for the elderly, which is also accessible to anyone who may be in need of medical care.
As a trained caregiver of the elderly, Genevieve takes pride in taking good care of her clients, and she is well supported by a small staff which includes her ever-dedicated husband. As her biggest fan and supporter, he shared, “I really admire how she does her work and I know the business will go a far way because of how committed and passionate she is about it.”
For her commitment to a venture that caters so well to the elderly, today we call Genevieve McDonald-Patterson a ‘Special Person’, and for his unwavering support to this noble cause, we are pleased to also recognise Desmond Patterson as a ‘Special Person’.
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