About Our Team
A Place Like Home is a pretty residential care assisted living facility that has been run by family and friends since it's inception over 18 years ago. Continuity of care is primary for those living in assisted living homes. Since there has been little turn-over throughout the years, our residents know our faces, they know our voices, they know our hearts and they experience consistency in our day to day routines.
Our workers are easy going, gentle, funny and moderated... yet efficient. We are trained to balance compassion with effectiveness. Many thanks to all!
Meet the Wonderful Folks Who Make Up Our Team ... With them there is professionalism, humor, and love:
Dr. Diane Walker
Dr. Walker is the administrator and owner of A Place Like Home. She is a licensed Clinical Psychologist in the State of Florida who has spent over 30 years specializing in Geriatric Psychology.
With a warm heart, she spends a good deal of social time with our residents.
Dr. Walker is on call 24/7 and she is a hands-on caregiver two-three 24 shifts per week.
Dr. Walker is trained in Kundalini yoga. She leads chair yoga sessions for all interested residents. Additionally, Dr Walker designs the behavioral plans of treatment for our residents and oversees all operations in the management of A Place Like Home.
She also plans and implements, outings (examples: restaurants, beach, plays, movies, ice cream), sing-alongs, tea parties, holiday festivities and other day to day activities.
Luis Salazar
Oh, my goodness! Luis is truly a gem! He is bilingual and is our main caregiver, working four-five 24 hour shifts per week. He is beyond kind. He is soft spoken. He does his work, yet focuses on spending one on one time with our people. Everyone loves Luis!
Luis is also a tremendous cook! He makes even the simplest of foods taste delicious with his special knack for spices and citrus fruits.
It's not just a job for Luis. Like most of us, he is dependable and completely dedicated to our darling residents.
He is an excellent cleaner, leaving our home often sparkling clean. He paints our walls, trims and doors. He keeps up with the palm trees, and assembles things as needed.
Canaan Maffeo, ARPN
We are most fortunate to have Canaan Maffeo, ARPN consulting with us as our visiting in-house Medical Director. He has been given the highest of accolades and he consults at a number of assisted living communities within our county.
With a rich background in Geriatric Care and Emergency Medicine, Canaan brings both expertise and compassion to our team.
He is highly skilled in treating dementia, behavioral issues, COPD and emphysema, diabetes, arthritis, and other Senior issues.
Happily for us, Canaan's heart is large and caring. He has carved out room in his busy schedule to take us under wing. Having an excellent medical provider travel to our home is a privilege we are grateful for. He is a welcomed addition to our professional staff.
Peggy Epling
Peggy is a dear friend to our community. She has been with us from the very start. She is our office manager. She also fills in as an assistant with administration when Dr Walker is out of town.
She has been on many an outing and has shared birthdays and special occasions.
Peggy often works along side our caregivers helping with caregiving, serving food, cleaning, and organizing. She has a special way with our residents. With her sweet, sing songy undivided attention, she makes each one feel valued and important.
John Walker
John Walker has been working at APLH since our earliest days. He is a trained caregiver and has worked here for many years. Of late, John fills in as as an aide, as needed.
John is quite funny and has a way with our little family. He keeps them laughing when he is here.
John helps us with smaller maintenance projects and keeps our generator operational in case of any emergency.
As a retired air conditioning business owner, he has helped us out with cooling and water issues during some dire times.
David Manning
Dave is our resident computer buff and a real bright spot in the days of all. He helps us with our website, our marketing, and our periodicals.
Dave also is a sounding board and voice of reason to other residents and staff alike. He is helpful and kind. He is a joy to have as part of our home.