Armida C. Celebrates 23 Years with Alegre Home Care

Providing quality in-home caregiving services is so much easier with the support of a quality team. We often think about caregivers on the individual level, but they are also part of a larger community of office staff, peers, clients, and mentors. If the community is strong, you’ll have strong caregivers.

Connecting with caregivers is the best part of the day for Director of Human Resources, Armida C, at Alegre Home Care. “I’m a very people-oriented person,” she says. “I love the onboarding process and interviewing people. Our caregivers feel like they can talk to me and treat me like family.”

Family is something Armida values dearly. She grew up in the Philippines with ten siblings and has two daughters of her own. Many of the caregivers at Alegre Home Care who also have Filipino heritage find they can relate to Armida and her journey to the United States. Caregivers will even bring her gifts from the Philippines when they go back to visit.

Armida arrived in the United States in 1989 and completed her associate degree in nursing in Maryland. When she moved to San Francisco, her original goal was to be a nurse, but she found the schedule difficult to manage as a single mom with two kids. She took a position as an administrator at a nursing school, and then a friend referred her to Charles Symes, founder of Alegre Home Care.

Upon meeting Charles, Armida knew she wanted to work alongside him. The two immediately had a mutual respect for one another. She explains, “Charles is good to his employees and is very approachable. You will always have his ear if you have any concerns.”

Armida started as a Scheduling Coordinator and was then promoted to her current position as Director of Human Resources. Charles created the position with her in mind, as a way to best support her career and his in-home care agency.

Dedicating 23 Years (And Counting!) to Alegre Home Care

Armida is now celebrating 23 years with Alegre Home Care. She has worked in San Francisco the entire time, and the current office is only a fifteen minute walk from her house. It was clearly meant to be!

Even though Armida just turned 66 years, she has no interest in retiring just yet. “Alegre Home Care is like my second family,” she says. “With the pandemic restrictions, my world has shrunk to a 2-mile radius, and I don’t want to lose my community. I enjoy being around my coworkers and speaking with the caregivers.”

Alegre Home Care is certainly happy to have her. There are three staff members at the San Francisco office and Armida wears many hats. She handles the hiring and onboarding, triple checks all of the files, and ensures everything meets compliancy. She finds the work challenging in a good way because it keeps her mind sharp and she never gets bored.

One thing she misses, since the pandemic started, is the annual holiday party. A favorite part of her role is going to company events. The activities make a difference by creating community and bringing together people from the different Alegre Home Care locations.

In her spare time, Armida loves attending the theatre, watching plays and musicals, going to concerts, reading, and traveling. Spending time with her husband and her two daughters is an important priority and she incorporates family time into many of her activities. She usually takes 2-3 trips every year and appreciates that her position with Alegre Home Care enables her to travel and fits so well with her lifestyle. She also likes to stay active and enjoys swimming and walking.

In fact, Armida enjoys walking so much that she used to walk all the way from her house to the Alegre Home Care office when it was located on Market Street. The walk would take her 40 minutes but she loved the exercise.

This is the kind of energy Armida brings to the team — a joyful attitude even when there are challenges. Alegre Home Care is honored to have her as a vital part of our in-home care team.