The Founder of our local In-Home Care Agency

Learn more about Tom Berard, our Comfort Keepers in-home care founder.

Tom and Bev Berard founded the Anoka, White Bear Lake, Shoreview, and Vadnais Heights Comfort Keepers in-home care franchise in 2007, driven by the desire to help seniors enjoy more fulfilling and independent lives as they grow older—and to support their client's families in the process. Tom helped care for his own parents and knows the challenges families face in supporting their aging loved ones.       

They were also surprised to learn that many families aren’t even aware that organizations like Comfort Keepers exist.  In-home care was created to help with senior caregiving and ease family caregivers’ stress by providing them with at-home care options. As Tom says, “We want it to be common knowledge that families in Anoka, Ramsey, Washington, Chisago, Sherburne, and Isanti counties don’t have to face senior caregiving alone—that they have a helpful friend in Comfort Keepers.” 

Tom tells this story—“We train our Caregivers in Interactive Caregiving.  This approach helps them meet the client at their level and find things that will enrich their lives.  My father used our services and his Caregiver worked with him daily to find things that interested him.  I went to his house one day and found him kneeling next to the bathtub fascinated by a hermit crab she brought.  Another time when I came, his fingernails were all painted. As it turned out, he had been building and painting birdhouses to give away to family and friends.” 

They enjoy the personal reward that comes from seeing Comfort Keepers transform the lives of older adults, renewing their enjoyment of life in the comfort of their own homes.  During 2023, to assist more seniors and veterans, an office was added in Chisago City MN and a plan to grow into Elk River MN in 2024 was formulated.