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About
About the Founder
Heather Cunningham
Heather understands change is difficult. Everyone deserves a support system to guide them through life changes, not only during times of crisis, but also during the early stages of transitions. That is why she founded Next Chapter Support. She is passionate about helping seniors and their families take the time to prepare in advance for senior living as well as supporting them throughout the process for a calm and smooth transition.
Heather is a Professional Organizer and Certified Life Coach. She is a member of the National Association of Productivity and Organization Professionals (NAPO) as well as the International Coaching Federation (ICF). She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Family Studies and Human Services and has over 20 years of administrative and project management experience. Her training in administration, team dynamics, and mediation have uniquely prepared her for collaborating with families to identify and implement compassionate solutions. At the same time, her training as a life coach has elevated her skills in working with individuals as a whole person in order to best attend to the variety of physical, mental, and emotional needs when dealing with major life transitions.
Heather believes her work is as much about the emotional and mental aspects of transitioning as it is about the physical acts of organizing client affairs and belongings in preparation for change. Clients may initially reach out for support in handling the organizational and logistical details, but they soon find that working with Heather brings a deep sense calm that they hadn’t anticipated. Her goal is to ease the transition by gently and tenderly caring for clients and their possessions, take the stress and overwhelm out of the picture, and provide peace of mind and comfort in the process.
"Putting your house in order, if you can do it, is one of the most comforting activities, and the benefits of it are incalculable."
- Leonard Cohen, The New Yorker
How It All Started
It all started with Heather’s experience assisting with her grandfather’s care in his final years. When his health began to fade, Heather found that the best way she could support both her mother and her grandfather during this emotional time was to use her administrative and organizational skills to handle as much of the logistics as possible. With the details neatly managed, Heather's mother could focus her time and energy on what truly mattered…their loved one and his wellbeing.
Heather quickly learned how fortunate they were that her grandfather had taken such great care to "put his house in order." He had downsized his possessions, made financial arrangements for long-term care, provided instructions regarding his preferences, prepared his will, and kept orderly records of his accounts and household expenses. Thus, when it came time for family to step in to manage his care, a great deal of the work was already done. Their learning curve was greatly reduced by the plans and systems he had put into place well in advance.
Following her grandfather's passing, Heather witnessed how vastly different experiences were for families who didn't have the benefit of advance preparations. Often families needed to step in quickly to manage the affairs of their loved ones due to sudden changes. Attempting to deal with not only the immediate emergency, but also with the chaos of sorting through multiple layers of senior transitions all at once put an enormous strain on everyone involved. Without preparatory measures, family members were left to frantically grapple with major decisions regarding health care, finances, living arrangements, and personal property with little to no input from their loved one.
Next Chapter Support was founded to help families navigate the transition to senior living in a way that makes the process as low-stress and comfortable as possible for everyone involved. Whether working with seniors and families to proactively take steps to prepare for changes ahead or working with them to navigate an unexpected turn of events, the goal is to take the stress and overwhelm out of the transition. Seniors and their loved ones can rest easy knowing that NCS will be there to help handle the details so they can focus on what truly matters as they move towards the next chapter.