Notas del episodio
I grew up watching my grandparents treat total strangers like family. My dad, Spencer Bertram, is a pain physician and my uncle, Timothy Bertram, has run our group homes for over thirty years.
On this episode, I sat both of them down to talk about where our company actually comes from.
My grandparents ran a group home and that house became a twelve bed home. Then a commercial property with forty private rooms, where my grandparents lived in the basement so they'd never be far from the people they cared for.
In this episode of State of Care we covered:
→ How a house in Davison became a licensed home for six residents
→ Building Greenley Square and its forty private rooms
→ Charlie and the residents who felt like family, not clients
→ What growing up in a group home did to two very different careers
→ Why the next goal for our residents is independence, not just stability
The things that really keep people out of crisis aren't complicated. It's clean homes, good meals, and staff who notice when someone's having an off day before it becomes an emergency.
Thanks to my dad and my uncle for sitting down with me to talk about how we've lived our whole lives. I’m glad to have you both on the very first episode!
Chapters
00:00 Welcome and three generations of family care
04:54 Greenley Square: from one home to forty beds
07:09 Living above the business, hands on every day
10:49 Setting the standard for cleanliness and openness
12:18 Charlie and the residents who felt like family
14:59 What grandma and grandpa taught them about hard work
25:10 How growing up in group homes shaped two careers
34:00 The next innovation: independence over dependence
34:48 Reading behavior before it becomes a crisis
38:06 What legacy means to this family
~~~ This podcast is sponsored by Specialized Residential Services. https://www.srsmichigan.com/