Caregiver Companion Services
of Greater Charlotte, LLC
Individually tailored care and companionship since 2019 · Charlotte, NC
One caregiver who learns the routine, the doctors, and the preferences of one person. Not a rotation of strangers, and not a fixed package of services. I am Stephen Bernhardt, a Certified Nursing Assistant and Dementia Care Practitioner, and I do this work myself.
Calls welcome in the evening if that is easier. Most families reach me the same day.
Agencies send whoever is available, working from a standard list of tasks. The client explains everything again each visit, and nobody notices when something has changed. I keep a small number of clients on purpose, so I notice when someone is walking differently than they were last week, and I know who to tell.
I drive clients to appointments, go in with them, take notes, and make sure the questions that mattered on the drive over actually get asked. Afterward I write up what was said and pass it to whoever the client wants informed. Most of what goes wrong in a person's care goes wrong in the gap between the exam room and the people who need to know.
Some clients want their situation kept between us. Others want it all reported to a family member the same evening. Some prefer I be introduced to friends simply as a friend. We settle that at the start, and I hold to it.
No rotation. No package of services. No stranger at the door on Tuesday.
Hands-on personal care, handled with dignity.
Reminders and administration, tracked visit to visit.
Safe movement between bed, chair, car, and bath.
Cooked at home, with attention to what someone will actually eat.
Appointments, the pharmacy, the grocery store, the bank, the barber.
Tidying, laundry, and a house that stays safe to move through.
The half of the work that keeps a person feeling like themselves, and the half most schedules cut first.
Daily movement at whatever pace is realistic, because it protects everything else.
Physical, occupational, and speech therapy work carried out between sessions.
Familiar music, cards, puzzles, and making things, which hold attention when conversation gets harder.
Writing the day down, and on request recording and transcribing a life history the family keeps.
Getting to the standing lunch, the church group, the card game, the family gathering.
Golf, museums, the library, restaurants, and anywhere else worth the trip.
If the diagnosis you are dealing with is not on this list, call anyway and we can talk about fit.
A lot of the people who call me are hundreds of miles away, working out over the phone whether someone at home in Charlotte is still safe there. That is hard to judge from a distance, and harder to trust to a company you have only seen a website for.
You hear from me directly, not from an office. A new unsteadiness, less eating, more confusion in the afternoon, you hear it early rather than after a fall. Visits come with written invoices, which is what a long-term care claim needs.
You will always know exactly who is in the house, because it is the same person every time.
I grew up in Greensboro, went to Davidson College, and earned an MBA at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I have lived in Charlotte for about forty years, long enough to know my way around its hospitals, its practices, and the traffic between them.
I started this company in 2019 and run it myself. No office staff, no scheduler. When you call, you get me.
Movement and exercise for physical health.
Compassion, patience, and laughter for emotional health.
Fifteen minutes. You tell me what is going on and what you are worried about.
I meet the client at home, so everyone can see whether it feels right.
We agree on days, hours, and what the time is actually for, then adjust as needs change.
Call whether you are arranging care for yourself, for a family member, or for someone you look after in another role. I will tell you honestly whether I am the right fit, or point you to someone who is.
Care here qualifies for long-term care insurance reimbursement, and I provide written invoices for the claim.