Home Care Benefit 

Michelle Brunell's interest in the business came from her first-hand experience as primary caregiver for her father. Her father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease when he was 57. While caring for her dad she learned not only how the disease affected him, but how it affected the whole family. Our Home Instead office opened in 2004, the same year that her dad passed away. Therefore, Michelle knew that through her work with Home Instead she would not only be able to help seniors age in-place, but to assist families and alleviate some of the challenges they face in caring for an aging family member.

Michelle graduated from University of Central Missouri with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology and a Master of Science degree in Industrial Hygiene. She also studied internationally at the University of Vaxjo in Sweeden. Prior to becoming a partner at Home Instead, Michelle worked as an Industrial Hygienist for the Missouri Division of Labor Standards and was a Safety & Health Manager at Honeywell. During her free time, Michelle enjoys spending time with her family, playing tennis, traveling and walking her dog.

Kristine Wright opened our Home Instead office in May 2004. Her long-time desire to work with seniors in our community stemmed from her close relationship with her grandmother. As primary caregiver for her grandmother she became acquainted with her grandma's friends and saw that many did not have family near-by to help with some of their day to day needs. When Kristine learned about Home Instead she knew that she had found the perfect avenue in which she could not only honor the memory of her grandmother but help people in situations similar to those of her grandma's friends.

Kristine graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia (MU) with the following degrees: Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and English Literature; Master of Arts in 16th Century Spanish Literature; and a Juris Doctorate. During her university years, she also studied at the Universidad Autonoma of Guadalajara, Mexico and the Pontificia Universidad Catolica of Quito, Ecuador and taught Spanish at MU. During her free time, Kristine enjoys spending time with her family and friends, reading and traveling.

Paige Wheeler recently joined Home Instead as Director of Operations. Paige brings a wealth of experience throughout the continuum of care and possesses a true passion for serving seniors.

Paige holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration and a master's degree in Gerontology. She is also a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator Paige began her career as a Social Services Director in long term care followed by a number of years as a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator and Executive Director with a senior living management company. Paige’s passion for the field guided her to serve on the board of directors for a number of senior service organizations. Prior to joining Home Instead, Paige served as Vice President of Health Care at a senior living community. Paige has enjoyed serving served thousands of seniors at all levels of care in a variety of living environments.

Paige is committed to improving quality of life for seniors. The rewards of providing resources and services for high quality care is important to Paige. She is dedicated to the industry and her desire to serve others. Outside of work, she loves to spend time with family and enjoy the great outdoors. Paige is married with two adult sons with whom she has always shared a love for sports and continues to spend time with them attending sporting events.

Elizabeth Bernzen started with Home Instead in 2015 as the Office Coordinator, but quickly moved through several positions. With a background in sociology, psychology and theology, she has forged a 30-year career of building and maintaining relationships with the many diverse people with whom she has come into contact. These skills and experiences serve Elizabeth well in her current position as Home Instead’s Community Development Manager. Elizabeth enjoys meeting with the health care community, nurturing relationships and providing educational resources to the community. In this role, she shares how Home Instead can provide highly personalized care while maintaining a senior's wish to live independently at home. Collaborating with health care professionals, clients, and their families, fulfills her lifelong call to serve others. When Elizabeth is not fostering her passion for helping people, she enjoys spending time with friends and family, cooking, traveling, and taking walks with her husband and their Goldendoodle. Sasha. Often you will catch her singing to her favorite tunes and enjoying Mother Nature's gifts.

Sandy Eaves started working at Home Instead as a CAREGiver in 2012. Since 2016, she has served in the roles of On-Call Coordinator, Scheduling Coordinator and Service Manager. Working in multiple positions has given her the opportunity to build relationships with CAREGivers and clients. In her current role as Client Care Manager, Sandy is using this knowledge to provide support to CAREGivers and the best care for our seniors. She has often said, “Working with seniors has been the most rewarding job that I’ve ever had.” Before coming to Home Instead, Sandy was a stay at home mother for 13 years raising two special needs boys. Sandy and her boys are animal lovers, they currently live with two dogs and two cats. Sandy enjoys spending time with her boys, reading, watching movies, knitting, crocheting, cross stitch, needlepoint, and quilting.

Leslie Nelson began her career path helping others as a caregiver providing care for family members and then working privately until she found Home Instead in June of 2014. Working at Home Instead has offered Leslie a career path to expand her contributions to the office. At Home Instead, she has worked as the On-Call Coordinator, responding to clients and CAREGivers after regular business hours, and as a Staffing Assistant working to ensure the best match between the CAREGiver and client. While serving as the Client Care Coordinator, Leslie provided case management services working collaboratively with the client, family and other support systems to ensure exceptional client care. In her current role as Administrative Assistant, Leslie supports the entire team in their respective roles at Home Instead. While spending time with our Clients, Leslie appreciates their wisdom, great stories and skill for teaching. She especially enjoys working with our Veterans. Her goal is to problem solve challenging situations that will ensure every senior receives quality care. Caring for people is her passion and she is committed to bringing hope and smiles into their lives.

Theresa Feagans started at Home Instead in September of 2013. She currently works part-time as the office bookkeeper and has plenty of first-hand experience within accounting. Theresa graduated from Missouri Western State College with a bachelor's degree majoring in Accounting. Theresa's experience includes starting a bookkeeping department and managing it for 5 years. Theresa then decided to stay at home and raise her children for nine years. Once her children were a little older, she decided to join Home Instead after meeting the team. “I just really liked everyone here and believed in what they were doing.” Theresa currently lives in Blue Springs with her husband, Doug, two children, Makayla and Brenton, and dog, Mika. In her free time Theresa is busy with her children's soccer, high school color guard and other school activities. Theresa also likes to play video games, dance, ride bikes, watch baseball and football, swim, and spend quality time with her family.

​Lisa Winer began working for Home Instead in December 2014. She has been an invaluable resource regarding our processes during the pandemic.  She also oversees our Nurse Directed Services and the Quality for our higher acuity clients. Lisa oversees our on-line learning management system for our CAREGivers as well as provides ongoing education for caregivers on specialized topics such as Alzheimer’s and dementia, hospice care, diabetes and Parkinson’s Disease. Lisa has always been drawn to working with seniors and especially enjoys hearing about their life stories and experiences. Outside of work, Lisa enjoys spending time with her husband and two children. When she is not watching her kids play sports, she enjoys cooking, baking, knitting, reading and watching old movies.