An Army veteran who worked at the Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis, Muniz has an extensive health care background that includes working as a paramedic and in surgical services. When she realized she would have to retake an old math class in order to be accepted into a medical program to continue her education, she didn’t want to move to California.

“I said, what can I do to make a difference in health care to help others?” she says. Soon, the idea for Hearts of Grace Homecare, Inc. was born. A few months ago, Muniz made the biggest change so far to her still growing business: She moved it out of her home to a leased office space on Tremont Street in Port Orchard. In the year since she’s officially opened doors following a long licensing process, the agency grew from one person — Muniz — to having eight employees, and she has plans to add more soon.

Muniz has been an entrepreneur her entire life. She had her first “business” around age 11, a carnival in her back yard. She created attractions such as an obstacle course from old tires and a “slip and slide” out of rolled-out garbage bags (before the real slip and slide was invented). She made cookies and popcorn balls, and sold the goodies and the “rides” to neighborhood kids for pennies. “I probably made something like $7, but it was big money for me,” she says.

Since then, she has owned other businesses ranging from a nail salon to tax service. What attracted her to the idea of owning a home care agency is the ability to design her own program. “The best thing about having my own business is the freedom to create change without restriction,” she says. “If you work for someone else, and don’t like their policies and procedures, you’re limited with what you can do. I like to develop my own direction without anybody saying, ‘You can’t do that.’”

Muniz interviews prospective employees for one to three hours to make sure they share her philosophy and are the right fit. She takes the same approach with clients to make sure they are comfortable with their potential caregivers and have compatible personalities.

“I hand deliver the caregiver to the clients’ home and we just talk, we get to know each other. I’m there to facilitate the bonding session between the two,” she says. This process takes at least three hours — but Muniz has no hesitation to start all over if it’s not the right match.

“If either one doesn’t feel good about the interaction, or if I don’t feel good about it, I don’t place (the caregiver) there,” she says. “I also watch body language because some vulnerable clients will not say they are not comfortable.”

Muniz acknowledges that caregiving and respite care is a competitive market, and for a small business it’s not easy to compete against franchises that have national marketing campaigns. But she’s also concerned about some unscrupulous agencies that don’t have their hearts in the right place, and are motivated by the growing demand for these services, and the bottom line of making money.

“There’s a lot of people stressed out and burdened from taking care of a loved one and they don’t know where to go or if they can afford care,” she says. “We have set prices but we are flexible. I didn’t get into it to make a profit — I got into it to make a difference.”

Last year for Mother’s Day, Muniz took her husband, David (who co-owns the business) and her daughter, Christianne Meekins, 19, to a nursing home in Port Orchard, delivering flowers to all the women. Where some may have included business cards to promote their services, Muniz included cards saying, “From our family to yours, happy Mother’s Day.” She made no mention of her business affiliation.

“I wanted my daughter to see what I do and have empathy for people who are isolated,” she says of the anonymous visit.

As Hearts of Grace continues to grow, Muniz plans to add RNAs and CNAs so they can provide limited medical assistance to clients. She also hopes to provide classes for caregivers to enhance their skills. She is already volunteering her time with the Red Cross to start a series of modules for teaching families about caregivers.

“That’s my passion, to get people to know more about caregiving,” she says. “I just get really excited when I think about it.”

(Webmaster Note: Hearts of Grace Homecare, Inc. has a new website which can be found at this link.).