Alumna
Lori Ciappara
(class of 1996)
20 GEORGIANVIEW FALL 2021 DIGITAL EDITION
ORANGEVILLE CAMPUS
Caring
started on
campus
Lori Ciappara, owner and Director of Operations for Comfort Keepers in
Orangeville never planned to open her own health-care business, but 21
years and a pandemic later, she says it's the best decision she's ever made.
Lori is a graduate of Georgian's Personal Support
Worker (PSW) program (class of 1996) at the Orangeville
Campus and has always enjoyed being around seniors
and wanted to improve their quality of life. She employs
72 staff and approximately 10 to 20 per cent of her
PSW workforce are fellow Georgian graduates.
"We're so fortunate, especially in the field I'm in, that
we have a college in our town that offers both the PSW
program and the Practical Nursing program," says Lori.
"I chose Georgian because they had a program that was
local and allowed me to continue working while learning."
She reflects on the support she received from faculty,
which made her placements easier.
"My teacher at Georgian had many years of experience
in the senior care and nursing field," says Lori. "I found
her support with the placement process very helpful,
especially if there were questions or concerns."
She never planned to start her own business, but she
had a family contact her that needed in-home care
for their mother and required more care than one
PSW could provide. "I reached out to some amazing
co-workers and formed a group of caregivers to
help me support this client," says Lori. "This was the
start of Compassionate Care Health Services."
In 2008, Lori joined the Comfort Keepers franchise
and purchased the Orangeville, Shelburne, Caledon,
Bolton, Alliston, Beeton and Tottenham territories.
