CAFE Member Profile
Serenity Home Care
Murray & Kathy Tough
by Chelsea Howard, CAFE VI Communications Specialist
Nearly five years ago Murray and Kathy Tough decided to take the plunge and leave successful careers in Calgary. Murray was an engineering consultant, while Kathy worked in recreation and home staging. What was next for the couple? A move to Victoria to start Serenity Home Care - a non-medical, in-home care service - something they'd both wanted and been equally passionate about for years.
"Many years ago my dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer and he chose to die at home. My mum wouldn't have had it any other way. A few years later a good friend's sister was diagnosed with cancer. He quit his job to go live with her for the last months of her life, and came back saying that if he hadn't been willing to do that, she wouldn't have been able to die at home with dignity," Murray says. "He said to me, there's got to be a business in that.' We just didn't go through with it at the time."
Murray says the seed for Serenity Home Care was planted after these two occasions, but the decision to do it finally came to fruition after watching Kathy's father battle Alzheimer's, and the terrible strain it inflicted on her mother.
"We thought it was going to kill her. She had no coping skills for it. She was a social person all her life, and loved playing cards with friends, going to coffee clubs. She had to cut all of that out because she couldn't leave him alone. The disease is horrible, but it's also horrible on the family. This was the last straw for us. What she really needed was someone to come in 3-4 times a week to take care of him - and let her get out by herself to see her friends."
When Murray's own mother passed after caring for her in the home - like she had done for Murray's father - it again reinforced their vision. Now, Serenity Home Care is a thriving local business that seeks to provide the best possible care for clients and their families, often changing lives in the process.
"We generally do the things facilities can't do. We help with laundry, meal preparations, groceries and other shopping," Murray says. But it's so much more. When they receive calls requesting unorthodox care services, like taking a client golfing, fishing, or sailing, Serenity is game.
"What really separates us from others is we look to do things that are different. We take on the difficult assignments that others won't do."
This dedication to client service won Serenity Home Care the Chamber of Commerce award for outstanding customer service in 2011, is one of Douglas Magazine's 10 to Watch, and was named Best of Home Care's 2015 Provider and Employer of Choice. With the help of CAFE and their PAGs, Murray and Kathy are confident that they'll continue to grow and expand the business that has come to mean so much to so many families.
"What's most important is that we keep our clients engaged... engaged in their community, the things they love doing, with their friends or with their religious groups—whatever is important and meaningful to the client."
"Transforming lives," Murray says. "That's what we stand for."