A new Forward Janesville Champions Club member is helping people remain in the place they call home — while its owner celebrates a homecoming of her own.
Forward Janesville recently joined Katie Villa, her family, team and members of the community to celebrate the opening of Right at Home Janesville with an official Ribbon Cutting.
The locally owned, family-operated and nurse-led business provides in-home care for seniors and adults with disabilities throughout south-central Wisconsin, helping clients maintain their comfort, dignity and independence wherever they call home.
SEE THE RIBBON CUTTING ON SOCIAL MEDIA HERE
For Villa, a Janesville native and nurse leader, opening the business represents the culmination of a professional journey that took her away from Janesville before ultimately bringing her back.
Villa earned her Master of Science in Nursing in Clinical Nurse Leadership from Rush University in Chicago and built a career that included high-acuity bedside nursing, leadership roles and travel nursing. Her experience serving as a primary caregiver for her grandfather during hospice also helped shape her belief in the value of compassionate care that allows people to remain at home.
At the Ribbon Cutting, Villa said those experiences are at the heart of the business she is now building in her hometown.
“As a nurse, it's very important to me to make sure our seniors and adults and families are well taken care of, they are comfortable in their home and that they can trust us with their dignity and independence,” Villa said. “Right at Home has been going 30 years, but this is a new territory in all of south-central Wisconsin. It's been such a pleasure to get it started, so thank you for celebrating this milestone with us.”
Right at Home Janesville offers personalized in-home care based on the needs of each client. Services range from companionship, transportation and help with household tasks to personal care, respite care and specialized support for conditions including Alzheimer's and dementia, diabetes and Parkinson's disease.
But the celebration also represented something bigger than the opening of another local business.
A Full-Circle Moment
Before introducing her daughter at the Ribbon Cutting, Mary Jo Villa reflected on her own years of involvement with Forward Janesville and conversations about a challenge familiar to communities across the country: how to create a place where talented young people want to return, build careers and invest in their hometown.
For the Villa family, that discussion became personal when Katie left Janesville to pursue her education and career.
“I can't tell you the number of times I sat in that board room, talking about what are we going to do to recruit young professionals back to Janesville to live, work and open businesses,” said Mary Jo, a former Forward Janesville Board member.
SEE MARY JO'S REMARKS HERE
Years later, she stood at her daughter's new Janesville business celebrating exactly that.
“As a businesswoman, a parent, this is truly a full-circle moment for me,” Mary Jo said. “I'm so excited to have her back. And it's a testament to the work Forward Janesville has done in the last 15 years. It's a testament to family, community, and to making this a place that young entrepreneurs want to come.”
That full-circle moment is also a reminder of what economic and community development can look like on a very personal level.
Building a stronger Janesville isn't only about attracting new companies or completing major projects. It's also about creating the kind of community where people see an opportunity to build a career, start a business, raise a family and put down roots.
Forward Janesville is proud to welcome Right at Home Janesville as a Champions Club member and celebrate Katie Villa and her team's investment in our community.
Learn more about Right at Home Janesville and its in-home care services at the Right at Home Janesville website.