Home care in Union County, NJ, from Elizabeth to Summit
Caregivers for a few hours a week, overnight or live-in, from our office in Cranford. It starts with a free visit to the home, so the plan fits the house your parent actually lives in.
Our family, caring for your family, since 2010
Let's talk about care for your family
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Why Union County families choose us
Our Union County office is run by its own local team, and it shows in how we run your care.
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A local team, with a nurse on every plan
Gianni Mirra, RN, BSN, leads the office as executive director. Registered nurses supervise every caregiver and write every care plan, to standards above what the state requires.
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Someone answers, day or night
We live up to our name. Call at 3 a.m. or on a holiday and you'll reach someone who can help, 365 days a year.
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The right caregiver, or a quick change
We match each caregiver to your family. If it isn't working, tell us and we'll make a change quickly, without a gap in care.
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Trained for Alzheimer's and dementia
Our caregivers are trained in Alzheimer's and dementia care and keep learning the newest memory care techniques.
Home care from Cranford, in the middle of the county
Our Union County office is at 20 Jackson Drive in Cranford, a short drive from every town we serve, from Elizabeth and Linden in the east to Summit, Berkeley Heights and Plainfield in the west. We provide non-medical home care: help with bathing and dressing, meals, medication reminders, getting around the house safely, and company. Families book it as hourly visits, overnight shifts or live-in care, and change the schedule when needs change.
The office is run by Gianni Mirra, RN, BSN, our executive director, and Francesco Mazza, our director of nursing. Both rose to lieutenant in the FDNY, and both worked as emergency room nurses before they came to home care. You can read their stories on our Union County team page.
East and west of Union County
The county is really two places. The east side is dense and flat: in Elizabeth, Hillside, Linden and Rahway, a parent is as likely to live in an apartment or on the second floor of a two-family house as in a house of their own.
The west climbs into the Watchung hills around Summit, New Providence, Berkeley Heights and Mountainside, where houses sit on slopes and driveways are steep. So a care plan here starts with the house: the front steps, where the bathroom is, and how far it is to the curb.
What the county offers, and the hours it can't cover
Before you pay for hours, use what Union County already provides. The Union County Division on Aging and Disability Resource Connection, at 10 Elizabethtown Plaza in Elizabeth, (908) 527-4870, is where to ask about home-delivered meals, adult day programs, respite for family caregivers and the state programs that help pay for care at home.
Union County Paratransit, (908) 241-8300, drives residents 60 and over to appointments for $3 each way. It runs mainly on weekdays, recommends booking five to seven days ahead, and works curb to curb: the driver can't come to the door or help someone down the front steps. A caregiver can do both, and a personal care attendant rides free.
What these programs rarely reach are the hours when nobody else is in the house: the first nights after a discharge from Overlook, Trinitas or RWJ Rahway, the morning shower, the evening when a parent with dementia gets restless. That is the work our caregivers do. Our page on care after a hospital stay explains how the first weeks home usually go.
Care for every situation
One-on-one care for whatever your loved one needs, from a few hours a week to around the clock.
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What families are saying
As the daughter of an Always Responsive Home Care client, I'm grateful for the compassionate caregivers who helped my mom maintain her independence and dignity at home. Their attentiveness to her needs and warm rapport made a world of difference.
Towns we serve from Cranford
Caregivers from our Cranford office work in every town below. The linked towns have a page of their own.
- Berkeley Heights
- Clark
- Cranford
- Elizabeth
- Elizabethport
- Fanwood
- Garwood
- Hillside
- Kenilworth
- Linden
- Mountainside
- New Providence
- Plainfield
- Rahway
- Roselle
- Roselle Park
- Scotch Plains
- Springfield
- Summit
- Union
- Vauxhall
- Westfield
Questions Union County families ask
Still have a question? Call or text us. Someone is here to talk, any time of day.
(908) 691-3660 Which Union County towns do you serve?
We serve Berkeley Heights, Clark, Cranford, Elizabeth, Elizabethport, Fanwood, Garwood, Hillside, Kenilworth, Linden, Mountainside, New Providence, Plainfield, Rahway, Roselle, Roselle Park, Scotch Plains, Springfield, Summit, Union, Vauxhall and Westfield, all from our office at 20 Jackson Drive in Cranford. The service areas page lists every ZIP code we cover. If your parent lives just outside those towns, call and ask: we'll tell you whether we can help or which office can.
Is this home health care or home care?
Home care. Home health care is skilled, clinical work ordered by a doctor and given by a certified home health agency: nursing visits, wound care, injections and therapy. Home care is the non-medical help that keeps someone safe at home between those visits: bathing, dressing, meals, medication reminders, getting around and company, including overnight. Always Responsive Home Care provides home care, and we work alongside a home health agency when one is involved. If what your parent needs is skilled nursing, we'll say so.
How quickly can care start after a hospital discharge in Union County?
Often within a day or two, and sometimes the same day. Call our Cranford office at (908) 691-3660 as soon as a discharge date is set at Overlook, Trinitas, RWJ Rahway or a rehab center, and we'll tell you which shifts we can staff and when. Office hours are Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with 24/7 on-call support outside them.
Does Medicare or Medicaid pay for home care in Union County?
Medicare doesn't pay for ongoing non-medical home care; it covers short-term skilled nursing and therapy through a certified home health agency. New Jersey's Medicaid program for long-term care at home, NJ FamilyCare MLTSS, and the state-funded JACC program can pay for help at home for people who qualify. In Union County, the Division on Aging and Disability Resource Connection at (908) 527-4870 takes those questions. We are a private-pay agency: families pay us directly or through long-term care insurance, and we handle the insurance claims.
Can a caregiver go with my parent on Union County Paratransit?
Yes. Union County Paratransit serves residents 60 and over, and adults with disabilities, for $3 each way, with five to seven days' notice recommended. Its drivers work curb to curb, so they can't come to the door or lift a passenger, and the county recommends a personal care attendant for anyone who needs help. The attendant rides free. A caregiver can get your parent ready, down to the curb, through the appointment and home again.
20 Jackson DriveCranford, NJ 07016
Our Cranford office
There's no need to come in: we come to you. Call or text us any time, or send the form, and our Union County team will take it from there.
- Address
- 20 Jackson DriveCranford, NJ 07016
- Call or text
- (908) 691-3660
- union@arhomecare.com