Vanessa G.

When Vanessa first started, she was great - showed up on time or early, helped around the house, made sure the kids had nutritious snacks. Also very important, our children adored her, which is always a plus! However, as time went on, she started showing up later, short notice unavailability, and requesting cash and early payments for the week, instead of check. After a non-care giving related emergency situation, Vanessa started to not act like herself (understandable to a certain extent), but then stopped communicating completely. We had confirmed a schedule for the week in advance, and also confirmed the night before, but then she did not show up. We tried calling, but were sent to voicemail, and there was no response to text until hours later, stating that she would no longer be able to continue with the job. Some of her texts and explanations did not add up, my husband (firefighter and paramedic student) was unable to take a test at school and complete required clinical rotations at the local hospital, and we were left to find short notice care for the following day. We had gone out of our way to make payment schedules and hours work for Vanessa, but when it came down to the final incident, she could not send a simple text when we had been trying to reach her since 630am, and a response was not received until well over 12hours later. It was a very disappointing ending, given the lack of communication, story loopholes, and having to find another caregiver with little to no turnaround time.