Growth and a desire to offer more in-person training prompted a longtime downtown Kennewick business to move into a bigger office.

“People were feeling isolated and missing not having a connection with their fellow caregivers,” said Christine Rose-VanWormer, the owner/director of Visiting Angels, a personal home care services provider for seniors.

Rose-VanWormer has been with the company since 2009, buying the Kennewick franchise in 2015. The company has had a presence in the Tri-Cities since 2005.

She said her team of caregivers expressed a desire to meet in person for training sessions, especially in the wake of the isolation they experienced during pandemic.

Visiting Angels’ new building offers more space and natural light than its old training room, which was small and cramped, Rose-VanWormer said.

The bigger space also will better accommodate larger groups for presentations and Visiting Angels’ equipment used to train staff. Staff training involves practicing skills so caregivers can gain confidence to take care of their clients, including how to lift, transfers, toileting and using Hoyer lifts to move clients.

Rose-VanWormer said her agency would like to offer more training and education for families and community members, as well as caregivers, such as how to care for seniors with early-stage, mid-stage and late-stage dementia.

Its new building offers about 1,500 more square feet of space than the former office it occupied for 13 years on North Cascade Street – in a building once owned by the Tri-City Herald and used as an intern dorm, meeting space and gym.

The new 3,362-square-foot office at 10 N. Washington St. is only a few blocks from its former location.

Rose-VanWormer said keeping the business in downtown Kennewick was important to her.

“I just love the sense of community here,” she said.

Visiting Angels employs 10 people in the office, plus 130 caregivers dispatched around Benton, Franklin and Walla Walla counties.

Kaizen Construction & Development of Kennewick oversaw $75,000 in tenant improvements in the new office.

Part of the improvements included moving the front door to the office so it opens into the courtyard it shares with Adult Day Services of the Tri-Cities. Benton Franklin Elder Services, doing business as Adult Day Services, is the building owner. 

“We are thrilled with our new tenant and could not have imagined a better business alongside our services. It is the perfect complement,” said Salem Snowdy Thompson, executive director of Adult Day Services. 

Visiting Angels was scheduled to move in on June 5.