Meet the Angels of Our Southwest Michigan Office
Visiting Angels ® of Southwest Michigan is a family-owned and operated non-medical at home care provider with an incredible team. Call us today to meet our team and schedule a free Angel Care Consultation at (269) 459-6464.
Ellen Kluck | Chief Operating Angel, Owner
Ellen identifies most with the core value “Bring Value.” Every decision she makes brings value to our clients, caregivers, their families and community. After graduating from the University of Michigan with a degree in Psychology and minors in Applied Statistics and Women’s Studies: Gender and Health, she spent 3 years in the recruiting field for the healthcare sector. She had applied and been accepted to graduate school for social work when Denny approached her with the idea of helping him start a Visiting Angels franchise. She thought she was just “helping” him get started but he had always known she would eventually become his co-owner. It took a lot of personal growth and development to switch to the entrepreneurial mindset and becoming an owner. Ellen prides herself on making the lives of our Angels better through competitive pay and bonuses, financial wellness and literacy programs, paid time off for all employees, comprehensive benefits and one-on-one coaching. Ellen lives in the Richland area with her husband and son (our future Chief Operating Angel!).
Denny Stults | Chief Executive Angel
Denny identifies most with the core value “Be A Connector.” He says, “I have never met a person I didn’t like something about; it is like a treasure hunt finding that thing!” Denny worked for the Kellogg Company for 37 years, retiring in 2016. After a brief stint of retirement he was looking for a “give back career” and found the Visiting Angels Franchise. He asked his daughter to help him start the business, little did she know that she would be a co-owner in a few years. This is how Denny works, his charismatic personality, dynamic personality and irresistible smile lure you in and then you are hooked! Denny is a member of both the Rotary Club of Kalamazoo and Kalamazoo Rotary Satellite as well as Guys Who Give. Denny lives in the Gun Lake area with his wife and two very spoiled golden retrievers.
Leslie Rembowicz | Angel Resources Manager
Leslie identifies most with the core value “Honesty in Everything.” She is a rule follower in and out! This is perfect for her position within Visiting Angels because she writes our Standard Operating Procedures, disciplinary policies, does our billing and everything that dots “i”s and crosses “t”s. Leslie joined the team in 2022 as a transplant from New York via Colorado. She has spent most of her career in Human Resources and Management. Leslie is currently pursuing her professional Human Resources Certifications. In her free time she enjoys being outdoors, has a great sense of adventure finding herself on the slopes during the winter and on the water during the summer. Leslie lives in the Lake Doster area with her husband, son and beloved senior husky.
Sarah Gerstner | Business Development Manager
Sarah identifies most with the core value “Be a Connector.” Sarah is very involved in the community and loves making those connections with everyone she meets, whether it is connecting someone with Visiting Angels resources or introducing someone to their potential future adopted fur baby. The joke is that she knows everyone, there are no 7 degrees of separation. Sarah has spent the majority of her career in healthcare, with the last 10+ years in private home health management. After losing her own dad to vascular dementia, she wanted a change and found her home with Visiting Angels helping people navigate a journey that she has walked herself. She currently volunteers at the Portage Zhang Senior Center with the Parkinson’s Group, is a member of the Rotary Club of Portage, is the Vice President of Kalamazoo Coalition for the Unhoused, sits of the Executive Leadership Team for the Kalamazoo Walk to End Alzheimer’s, is a Dementia Champion with Dementia Friends of Michigan and is on the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety Partnership Team. Sarah lives in Schoolcraft with her partner, 2 dogs, 4 cats and flock of rescue chickens.
Andrea Pawson| Care Coordinator
Andrea identifies most with the core value “Heart for Caregiving.” This is a natural one for her as she has a son with cerebral palsy named Camdyn, one of our honorary Angels. Andrea is an import from British Columbia in 2021, getting her US Citizenship in 2022. In Canada, she taught special education for 15 years while doing respite for special needs children on the side. When she came to the US, she was still teaching remotely and started working for Visiting Angels part time. The transition to Visiting Angels full time felt natural, she started with us as a full time caregiver and then moved into a coordinator position. She spends her free time doing family activities and still getting used to being in the US. Andrea lives in Kalamazoo with her life partner, son and extra large cat.
Rebecca Johnson | Care Coordinator
Rebecca identifies most with the core value “Heart for Caregiving.” She says this is something that cannot be taught, you either have it or you don’t which is why it is so special. Rebecca hired into Visiting Angels as a caregiver but was quickly recognized as someone who would excel in the office. She was our On-Call Angel being the first to deploy while also filling in with billing, care plans, scheduling and more. When a coordinator position opened, it was a natural progression in her career. On any Friday night and most weekends, you can find her on a sports field or court. Her son is a star athlete playing both basketball and football. Her daughter is in band. Rebecca lives in Otsego with her husband, two kids, two dogs who may as well be kids and one cat.
Danielle (Dani) Sereday | Care Coordinator
Dani identifies most with the core value “Heart for Caregiving.” She loves the fulfillment of moments of clarity with Alzheimer’s and Dementia clients. Dani worked as a CNA in a skilled nursing facility prior to coming to Visiting Angels. She also had a brief stint as a phlebotomist. She spent a year as a caregiver with us before moving into an office position helping with Angel recruiting. She is an Alzheimer's Community Educator through the Michigan Alzheimer’s Association. She is a very talented artist and leads guided painting at one of our local assisted living communities. Dani is a student at KVCC furthering her education. In her free time she enjoys a good nap, spending time outside exploring local hiking trails, or traveling when her schedule allows. Dani lives in Kalamazoo with her boyfriend and 2 cats.
Honorary Angel Bios
Hope | Alzheimer's Elephant
Hope identifies most with the core value “Be a Connector.” Hope is our Alzheimer’s Awareness Elephant. Hope allows us to start tough conversations by literally addressing the elephant in the room.
- Number of people with Alzheimer's: 203,000 people aged 65 and older in Michigan have Alzheimer's. This is about 11.2% of adults in Michigan who are 65 or older.
- Number of caregivers: 380,000 family caregivers in Michigan provide care for people with Alzheimer's.
- Hours of unpaid care: In 2023, family caregivers provided an estimated 872 million hours of unpaid care, valued at $17
billion.
Rufus | Therapy Dog Mascot
Rufus identifies with the core value “Bring Value.” Rufus brings delight to everyone he meets. His sole job in life is to make people smile! Rufus is part of Loving Paws Therapy Dog Teams through the Forever Strong Foundation. He is a 2 year old pure breed German Shepherd that was discarded from the breeder because he had a hernia. He was also getting beaten up on by his litter mates. He was sent to a trainer to gain confidence. In a freak accident playing the same day, he had his femur broken at 8 weeks old. The trainer sold her car to have a $10,000 emergency surgery to fix the femur and thousands of dollars of after care. Our Business Development Manager had lost her shepherd to a rare heart defect while all of this was going on. The two of them connected and the rest is history. Now Rufus lives a VERY spoiled life and loves coming into the Visiting Angels office. If you see the Angel-mobile in the wild, you will often see his head sticking out. Rufus chases balls and chews on his fur siblings in his spare time.
Annie | Training Angel
Annie identifies most with the core value “Live Responsibly.” She is always the first in the office, never leaves, always on time, always does the right thing, always has a smile on her face, never talks back, never steps out of line. She is the MODEL angel employee! Annie assists in the Earn Your Wings Evaluation. In her spare time, she likes to stage herself around the office to keep us on our toes.
Camdyn | Honorary Angel
Camdyn identifies most with the core value “Honesty in Everything” because it is the foundation for everything. Wise words from a young man! Cam is the son of one of our Care Coordinators. He is our biggest cheerleader. He loves to come to our caregiver appreciation events, community engagement events or just hang out in the office. Our clients and potential clients LOVE him! He always has a smile on his face and words of wisdom far beyond his years to give us. His one liners are legendary. Camdyn enjoys playing video games and making big plans for his future once he gets his US citizenship.
Serving Kalamazoo, Plainwell, Portage and the Southwest Michigan Area
Visiting Angels SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN
120 S Main StPlainwell, MI 49080
Phone: 269-459-6464
5413 S Westnedge Ave #D&E
Portage MI 49002
Phone: 269-459-6464