Roughly seven months after an Allentown fire cast Home Care Concepts‘ future in doubt, the personal care company hopes to provide better service when its new office opens this coming week.
Home Care Concepts will open its new permanent location in an office building at 2895 Hamilton Blvd., Unit 106 in Allentown, director Yanira Sanchez said.
With nearly 250 employees and about 300 clients, its caregivers provide personal care assistance to older and disabled residents in their homes.
Sanchez founded Home Care Concepts with her husband Michael in 2016, and operated it at 1132 Hamilton St. in Allentown until a fire damaged the building in July. There’s also a second location in Wilkes-Barre.
“It was heartbreaking,” Sanchez said of the fire, adding she felt concerned about whether the business could even continue. “A lot of emotions for everyone that was involved.”
She said that while the company has used a temporary space since then, the larger space it has now will allow room for better training and, in turn, better care for patients.
Unlike the temporary space, it also has an elevator that will allow access for disabled patients.
“It just gives everyone in here a peace of mind, that we’re going to have our own space and make sure that our employees have the proper training, and just connect again with all of our patients without having the limitations for them not to come to our office for their needs,” Sanchez said.
Two such caregivers and patients are Elizabeth Villanueva and 76-year-old Alsia Soriano; the former cares for the latter in her Allentown home.
Villanueva, who became Soriano’s caregiver about five years ago, described how she tries to help Soriano avoid feeling alone by keeping her company, preparing her meals and doing exercises with her.
“You feel them like part of your family,” Villanueva said.
Soriano, whom Villanueva translated while she spoke Spanish, said she particularly enjoyed activities such as going to stores with and getting her hair done by Villanueva.
Home Care Concepts typically operates 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, but provides on-call services outside those hours.
Residents can request a caregiver on the company’s website.
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Lehigh Valley retail and restaurant news in brief
Celebrity chef Luca Manfè will open and co-own the butcher shop and Italian market Mangia Carne in April at the Easton Public Market. It’ll offer meats, imported Italian cheeses such as prosciutto, sandwiches, lasagna, chicken parmesan, breads, tomato sauce and vegetables.
Syriana Mediterranean Grill at 1916 Hanover Ave. in Allentown closed indefinitely after a fire damaged it Valentine’s Day.
The New Jersey-based barbecue restaurant The Barbecue Boys will open a new Bethlehem location at 306 S. New St. later this year.
J Rads Bistro & Catering opened last month at 1611 Pond Road in South Whitehall Township. The restaurant offers catering such as for pasta and fish as well as breakfast and lunch menus for pizza, sandwiches, chicken fingers, soups, salads, bagels, muffins, bacon and sausage links.
The French-style bakery and cafe Paris Baguette will open in the first floor of the Dream Boyd Theatre apartments at 32 W. Broad St. in April. Patrons can buy pastries, cakes, sandwiches, chocolate, coffee, lattes, teas and smoothies.
After opening back in 2022, the sustainable living shop Verde will open for its last day March 1 at 267 E. Broad St. in Bethlehem, it announced on Facebook.
“Unfortunately, last year we were hit with a huge blow, and are still recovering physically, emotionally and financially from this,” its owner said. “It has changed my availability and made operating hours uncertain causing us to go week to week. This isn’t how I feel that we can best serve our community. I never want to ‘half-ass’ anything. But devoting all my attention to my health which has suffered under the weight of responsibility of home and shop is crucial.”
Verde will still live on through pop-ups and potentially markets, the post added.
“It’s not goodbye[,] it’s just a not right now,” it said. “Perhaps when everyone is 100 percent, we will be able to get back.”
Products include handmade jewelry, fragrance oils, soaps, candles, cleaning products, dental products, apparel and pet products, the website listed.
The winery and art gallery Unwine Vineyards will open this summer at 570 W. Cherry Road in Springfield Township, co-owner Joel Ritter said.
Ritter and his fiance Mary Reshetar, an artist and the other co-owner, originally opened the business as Unwine with Art in Easton in 2019 before it closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new location will operate 4-9 p.m. Friday, around noon to 9 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.
The Pilates studio Club Pilates will hold several introduction classes as part of its soft opening March 6-9 at 1634 N. Cedar Crest Blvd. in South Whitehall Township, it announced on Facebook.
Retail Watch is a weekly column covering retail and restaurant news in the Lehigh Valley. Have a question, tip, or want to see something in the area? Contact retail reporter Graysen Golter at [email protected].
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