The Future of Aging at Home with Tyler Day of Cornerstone Caregiving Cleveland — Full Episode Transcript

Never want to wait and you never want to be reactive when you can start to be proactive and get ahead of these things. When caregiving feels overwhelming and the system feels impossible to navigate, this is your guide. Here, you'll learn ways to navigate long-term care planning, find real support for caregiving, and prepare for the road ahead. I'm your host, Lindsay Friedman, and now you're not in this alone. Let's get started.

Hello! Welcome back to another episode of Care Compass. I'm your host, Lindsay Friedman. And today we're here with Tyler Day, who is from Cornerstone Caregiving in Cleveland, Ohio, and is also a new dad of the cutest baby you've ever seen in your entire life — but we probably won't talk about that as much today. We will talk about his adventure at Cornerstone Caregiving. So hey, Tyler.

Hey, Lindsay. Thank you for having me. I appreciate you so much.

We're so excited to have you here, because you shared some big news with me about your growth — and I'll let you share that. But to start off, I ask three questions that I let you flow with. So who are you? What do you do? And why do you do it?

Again, my name's Tyler Day. I am the director at Cornerstone Caregiving. I actually started our Cleveland office — we were about the first of 11, 12 offices in the entire country. Cornerstone has grown pretty significantly through that time; now there's well over 400 throughout the country.

What we do: we specialize in in-home senior care — non-medical, non-skilled — to assist seniors in their home. We have a lot of veterans, a lot of just the elderly. We help them out with their activities of daily living so that they are able to stay at home in as close to a normal functioning household as possible. That's kind of our big mission.

Why do I do it? I got into Cornerstone right in the beginning of COVID — October 2020 was my start date. I really wanted to go into this role because I saw it as not only a growing need for this service within the area, but I kind of looked at my own household and wanted to make sure that I had the resources to take care of my own parents and grandparents as they progress through this journey, and make sure I could provide the best possible care to my parents.

That's awesome, and I think that's a lot of what we do — people who do this think, how am I gonna take care of my family? Or I've taken care of my family and I know these challenges that arise. Now, we didn't get your big news into your explanation, so I'm gonna let you share your big news.

Yes — we have grown quite a bit through our time. We are back to the number one office in the country. We service about 260, 265 clients this week. We've been to the top before, but we definitely like the number one spot the best in our rankings.

Congratulations, because that is huge. The number of families you're servicing, that's huge. So are you finding that the need is becoming even greater today — and obviously five years from now? And how are you preparing for that?

Definitely — COVID changed a lot. There are a lot of wonderful facilities that we work with, but a lot of families are not ready or willing to leave their home. They want to stay there as long as possible. We are seeing that number increasing. We are growing every single week, and we kind of see it growing exponentially. We first saw a handful of clients a week; now we're well into the double digits every single week.

It's definitely a growing industry. We're happy to be a part of it, happy to be one of the leaders in our company, and we see a very bright future for not only Cornerstone, but our Cleveland office here as well.

I'm really excited for you, but also because I'm in Cleveland as well — so we are neighbors-ish. I'm really glad that there's someone like you providing services to the families here in town. So for anyone who's listening: what is the process, and what does that look like when you come into the home? What services are you providing? And how can a family prepare to have that first conversation with you?

I think just having a good self-awareness is definitely the first step. We have the ability to start quickly, but it's one of those things — you never want to wait, and you never want to be reactive when you can start to be proactive and get ahead of these things.

Some signs a family could start to see: unfortunately aging is part of the journey — none of us are ready for it at the time, but it does come quick. A lot of the time we're dealing not only with hospitals and doctors sending us clients, but mostly with the children of the client. So if you start to see things such as falls — once they start to happen — or a breakdown where mom and dad maybe aren't taking care of themselves the way they used to, sometimes physical changes, not getting around like they used to. And a lot of — let's be honest — Alzheimer's and dementia is very scary, and you may not be recognizing that there are changes happening.

Typically what we find is the best way is to start out pretty minimal. We are unique in the way that we provide our services: there's no minimum number of hours. So we're able to really start out with one- or two-hour shifts — not only per day, but also per week — just as a kind of stepping stone to get more comfortable.

A lot of what we do is to be proactive to prevent those falls. If mom or dad is starting to have issues taking a shower on their own, that's definitely a big confliction point — that's where a lot of falls happen, getting in and out of the shower. So if you start out with just that, you can then progress. We have no minimums, but we do go all the way up to 24/7 care. We can progress with the client from day one to 24/7 care, keeping them — preventing them — from going into nursing homes and facilities. There are some wonderful ones, but for those individuals that want to remain in their home, that's the goal of our organization.

I love the no minimum. And I think for people listening, can you explain how most other companies are doing this and why that is such a big thing?

Competitors are great too — everybody has the same goals and same mission, and I will never speak down on any of them; they are all wonderful. However, they will require a block of hours. Typically it's a four-hour block, at least three days a week — so 12 hours per week.

The reason for that — as we've grown, we do see the challenges of staffing, how you're able to compensate your caregivers, to find reliable consistency, to make sure you are providing that top-notch care. I can see why they've gone to that. However, we know that that's not the need right from the get-go, typically. A lot of families don't need 12 hours a week. They may start out with one day a week at three or four hours, or they may need one or two hours all seven days a week. We've had clients that need morning and evening — three times a day kind of thing. So we're able to really find out what the need is, work with the family, work with our caregivers to find the solutions — to give the client the best care experience. The happier they are with the care and what works for them, that's what our goals are.

That is really fantastic, because there are always financial constraints and there are always what the needs are — and paying for what you don't need today can end up taking from money that you might need for tomorrow. So are all Cornerstone caregivers like that?

Yeah, that's one of the foundational pieces from the get-go. All of our offices throughout Cornerstone require no minimum number of hours. We like to be proactive, we like to be ahead of the game. Instead of waiting until the last minute — where a family's coming home from the hospital and needs 24/7 right away — we don't start hiring then.

We're very metrics- and analytics-based. We know that if we are hiring anywhere close to 10 caregivers per week, then we will have — even if we have to put them in some type of backup role, fill-in roles temporarily, kind of like an on-deck circle — that way we're ready ahead of time, being proactive to be able to provide that emergency care. Which allows us to have no wait. We can start immediately — same-day starts. The day I meet with the families, the same day we can provide a caregiver to them. That's how we're able to do it.

That is fantastic — and I would have asked you how you were able to do that. I had caregivers for my mother-in-law a few years back, prior to when even Cornerstone Caregiving was around. And it was an emergency — she had to have someone help quickly, and we couldn't get anyone for weeks. Which — I got to know my mother-in-law super duper better than I ever would have when you start showering people. You learn a lot quickly. So I love that you can do that and that's available. For families out there, that's huge. And again, you are right — there are a lot of great home care companies — but for those who are looking for different times, for those who are looking for immediate need, this is amazing that you have these services available.

Thank you. We realize, even from my prior background, that when you're dealing with people, you have to be accommodating and be flexible to provide the best possible service. If they're happy, then we're doing something right. That's kind of how we operate and continue to grow the way we do.

Now let's shift a little bit, because you also mentioned your caregivers. We all know that we're in a time where finding caregivers is super challenging. So I'm gonna ask you a couple of questions in one and let you roll with it: how are you finding caregivers, retaining them? And then the other piece I'd like you to touch on — some families think they're gonna get a better deal if they hire their own caregivers, and I always advise families against that because of all the moving pieces. So I'm throwing that in here too, because if a caregiver goes, you have the ability to replace them.

We do have a little bit of a secret sauce. We have a system that we use at Cornerstone that allows us to find more caregivers — I can't give away all the secrets, but basically it takes from all of the job recruiting boards and combines them into one recruiting database that we have for ourselves. Obviously some of the big ones — Indeed, ZipRecruiter — those are all options. You literally go across the board to find great caregivers.

A lot of the times we will also go based on referrals — whether that's a client referral, if they know somebody in the industry, or our own caregivers. A lot of our caregivers have connections within the industry. If they are happy with their employment — we try and do everything we can. I will mention this: Cornerstone in Cleveland was just ranked, out of Cleveland.com, the top five workplaces in the city. So we are doing what we can to make sure we are a highly valued employer.

We realize that we're in a time that we pay our caregivers a little higher. We ask highly of them — it's not an easy position to provide in-home senior care. We definitely rely and depend on our people. We typically pay higher in the industry from what we see, and we've always been that way straight from the first day I started at Cornerstone — we always wanted to be a step ahead. Obviously financials is very important, so that's how we're able to get someone's attention to want to come on board.

And then after that, it's the retention aspect. We want to make sure that we are keeping our caregivers engaged as well as happy — that they feel like they have good communication with our in-office staff. And we also celebrate our wins. On a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly basis, we're doing things to really keep that engagement.

We just had an employee appreciation event a couple months ago where we had some awesome blow-up things in the back where you could play, we brought a basketball hoop in — a full, almost like a little carnival fair thing — hot dogs, cheeseburgers, all of that, starting with breakfast throughout the entire day. We had the elephant ears, one of those kinds of setups as well. All of our employees were invited. We try and do those typically about quarterly.

Also, when we want feedback from our clients — I tell every single one of them when I'm in the home: not only do we wanna know if something's not going right so we can fix it and address it immediately, it's too often that we don't hear about how amazing our great caregivers are. If everything is going well, we don't know. So I ask for that kind of feedback. We have multiple caregivers of the month. Even if a client just calls in to say how great a caregiver is, we give them a bonus just on their first client shout-out. Google reviews — if you get a Google review saying how great your caregiver is, we give the caregivers a bonus in that way too.

And something amazing that Cornerstone does: we have a caregiver of the year every year. Youngstown has definitely been one; last year was Norman, Oklahoma. So throughout the entire country we nominate a caregiver of the year, where that caregiver gets a brand-new car every year. Our owners are amazing — they come down for the event, they do the presentation. We make it a bit of a surprise for the caregiver, so reactions can be a bit jarring. I've actually driven the car in one time — drove it right up to the front door to deliver it to the girl from Youngstown. And they're really nice vehicles — a Nissan Pathfinder, 2025, 2026 SUV. They pay no taxes on it; Cornerstone takes care of all of that.

Those kinds of things show our appreciation and obviously incentivize that everybody's providing great care. Those are some of the steps we've taken and seen success with — not only to bring in good caregivers and maintain the caregivers you have, but also to drive high-performance care. That's the most important thing to us. Anything we can do to get that as the end result, that's what we keep pushing and are willing to try new things all the time.

I love this so much. Most of our listeners know I was a caregiver — that's how I got my start, working in homes and memory care, all these things. And it's an underappreciated job. Almost everybody I know who went into it went into it out of truly wanting to care, and has got burnt out for one reason or another, because as you said, it can be a tough job. And I love that you're awarding them for doing this and appreciating what they do.

So I'm gonna shift on the fact that I have seen families who've been not as appreciative as you as an employer. I always like to talk about this: yes, as the person who needs care, you are entitled to beautiful, wonderful care — you're entitled to what you're paying for. But there is an etiquette as a care recipient, and as a family of somebody receiving care, that really should be discussed. I know you probably don't have those conversations because they're hard conversations to have with families. But for people listening who are going to one day hire a caregiver, what are some things you suggest for a family so that they do have success and they don't have crazy turnover?

It's dealing with people, and the volume that we do — it is part of the day-to-day, definitely week-to-week, where we're having to come up with solutions, working with families, working with caregivers to get the end result we're looking for. But from an etiquette perspective, you have to realize that you're dealing with people. Yes, you are hiring them to come and provide the care, but basically like dealing with anybody — you have to be polite, courteous, as respectful as possible. What they're doing is a challenging position.

Checking and changing, transfers — not only can it take a physical toll, but they're gonna be with your loved one through the rest of the process, so it can also take an emotional toll. Just dealing with people the best way you can. At the end of the day, they do this — as you mentioned — you are in this role because you want to provide care, because you love people, seniors. You want to make sure that this step in that journey is with dignity — that's the word I was looking for — that you're maintaining their dignity at this time where it can be challenging.

And that's where my role steps in, if I have to step in — I was out this afternoon doing some troubleshooting to make sure that we're still providing the best care possible. But have in the back of your mind that people don't do this for essentially the financial aspect of it — it's because you actually care and want to take care of people. Yes, you're hiring somebody, paying for a service, but that person's gonna be there with you day over day, week over week, all night long. They're gonna be there for you — and they wanna be there for you. That's the big thing to remember.

And it really is — it can be a really lovely relationship, if families come from the point of appreciating what they're doing. I think you are doing such great work at Cornerstone, and some of your philosophies and things you put in place are just amazing.

Thank you. We're in this industry because we care — we want to not only take care of our own loved ones, but that's where it kind of really evolved as we've grown. I want to be the best provider in the city to make sure that everybody's getting excellent care. I really care about what I do. I love my job. I will be at Cornerstone as long as I work — probably longer.

So where can people find you? And where can they find some other Cornerstone — how can they find that if they're listening from far away?

We have websites — each office does have an individual website based on their office location. So you can go to cornerstonecaregiving.com, go to the Cleveland office — you'll see my face there with a little write-up. It'll have my direct contact information there. If you go to Google, you can find us. We're located in Independence, on Rockside Road, right here in the middle of the city.

You can always reach out to me directly. I will be happy to leave my information and my cell phone number — again, Tyler Day with Cornerstone Cleveland, 216-347-7705. That is my direct way to get a hold of me. I definitely don't mind a phone call, even if it's just to answer questions — email, text, any of that. You can find us pretty quickly. Lindsay Friedman can definitely pass along my information.

I'm gonna put the information below. And that was awesome of you to share your cell phone — that's what an open book he is. I highly recommend Cornerstone to anyone listening. Tyler, thank you so much for being with us.

Lindsay, it was a pleasure. Thank you so much. I look forward to continuing working with you, and you keep on your great work as well. We appreciate you.

Thank you. All right, that's a wrap for today. Until next time, remember: you're not alone. Take things one step at a time, stay centered, and trust your compass. See you next time on LT CareNav's Care Compass.