Our Team
Meet our team of professional caregivers, who strive every day to provide personalized, high-quality in-home care to your loved ones.
Our Team
The entire New Estuary Team, from office staff to
caregivers, are experienced, reliable
professionals, who take pride in what they do.
Jessica Puttbach
OWNER & AGENCY DIRECTOR
Jessica Puttbach founded New Estuary Home Care with a heartfelt mission: to provide seniors with the highest quality care in their final years. Her vision goes beyond business, it’s about making a lasting, positive impact on her community and enriching the lives of others. Drawing on her experience managing a home care company in another state, Jessica witnessed the industry’s challenges firsthand. Determined to overcome these obstacles, she developed a unique business model centered on premium client care, ensuring that only professional, compassionate caregivers are hired and maintained. Jessica’s passion for her work is evident in her daily dedication to improving the lives of seniors. She believes deeply in treating the elderly with the the highest level of dignity and respect and in compassionate care, a principle that forms the core of New Estuary Home Care’s values.
When Jessica isn’t leading her team or engaging with clients, she cherishes time spent with her husband and children. She enjoys cooking, reading, photography, and hunting for shark teeth on the beautiful shores of Topsail Island. Jessica firmly believes in the power of volunteering to gain a true understanding of the world. She has been involved in several Meals on Wheels programs in the area, organized multiple food drives for the local food pantries, started a lending closet for local seniors in need, and a created monthly dementia support group. Her commitment extends beyond her professional life, reflecting her deep-seated belief in giving back to the community.
Jessica Puttbach’s journey with New Estuary Home Care is a testament to her unwavering dedication and passion for elder care. Her goal is not only to enhance the lives of the seniors but to also contribute to the well-being of her entire community.
Rachel Hofmann
Care Team Education RN
Rachel is thrilled to be serving and sharing her knowledge within the community she and her family call home. As a Registered Nurse for over 15 years, she is a strong advocate for those she cares for and believes everyone should receive quality care while being treated with compassion and kindness.
Rachel graduated nursing school in 2008 and went on to obtain her Bachelors of Science in Nursing from the University of South Florida in 2011. She is passionate about providing education as well as emotional support to our clients and their loved ones. Rachel is proud to be a part of our growing team of true professionals who care immensely about their clients. In addition to supervising the care of our clients, she provides continuing education and training to our staff ensuring they are always ready to provide the care we expect.
Outside of work, Rachel is a military spouse and mom to three small children. She enjoys crafting, traveling and being outdoors with her family.
Alex Chalman
Registered Nurse
Alex has worked in the healthcare industry since 2008. Throughout her career she has held various nursing roles and worked in many different clinical settings. She obtained an associate degree in nursing in 2013 from Mira Costa College and then a bachelor’s degree in nursing in 2019 from Winston-Salem State University.
Her care experience has ranged from birth to the elderly and she enjoys taking care of people in every season of life.
Outside of work, Alex is a busy mom of 3. Her family enjoys spending warm days at the beach or pool. In her free time she likes to bake and tend her many plants.
Skyler Abel
Office Manager
Skyler manages The New Estuary Office, overseeing scheduling and human resources operations. She combines administrative prowess, interpersonal skills, and organizational abilities to effectively manage daily operations. With a rich background in early childhood development, Skyler brings over 12 years of teaching and leadership experience to the team. Having been a caregiver for the majority of her life, Skyler is deeply passionate about enhancing and supporting her community.
Her commitment to fostering a nurturing environment is evident in every aspect of her work at New Estuary Home Care.
Vanessa Jordan
Lead Caregiver
Vanessa Jordan is a dedicated caregiver on New Estuary’s clinical team. After completing high school, in Las Vegas, she joined the Marine Corps, showcasing her commitment to serving others. With a passion for healthcare, Vanessa has been actively involved in the field since 2016, gaining valuable experience along the way. Currently, she is pursuing her aspirations of becoming a respiratory therapist by attending UNCW.
In addition to her professional endeavors, Vanessa is a loving mother to an eight-year-old daughter who brings joy to her life. Their household is further enriched by the presence of three cats and a brand new dog, who recently became a cherished member of their family. Vanessa loves the beach, indulging in a good book, enjoys taking her daughter to the park, and the thrill of shopping.
With her exceptional caregiving skills, Vanessa brings both value and joy to our clients.
Alma Birdsong
Overnight Triage
The New Estuary Overnight Triage Scheduler is responsible for ensuring continuous scheduling and nursing services for our clients and care team. This role involves managing and coordinating after-hours client needs and caregivers when emergency situations arise.
Growing up in Illinois, Alma has always felt a desire to help people. This desire grew deeper during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Starting her training, she became a CNA in July 2020 and quickly began working in the hospital setting in the COVID unit. After a while, she found the constant hustle and bustle of the large patient load and the never-ending work draining. She wanted to make deeper connections with her patients and felt bedside nursing wasn’t the way to achieve that, so she left the field.
Fast forward to 2024, after some time as a stay-at-home mom and a few different jobs, Alma is now back in the healthcare field as a dedicated caregiver with New Estuary. Client comfort and care and making personal connections are always her main priorities. On her days off, you can usually find her running around outside with her two boys or on her couch watching Disney classics with them.
Kadie Giles
Weekend Scheduler
Kadie ensures seamless scheduling operations over the weekend, supporting our mission to provide exceptional care to our clients.
Originally from Ohio, Kadie moved to Leland 13 years ago. After Covid, she decided to leave the beauty industry to pursue her dreams of becoming a forensic nurse. Kadie is currently a CNA and will be attending nursing school in 2025. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her dog, Athena, trying new restaurants in the area, and traveling.
Katy Scott
Culinary Specialist
As a New Estuary’s Home Care Culinary Specialist, Katy Scott ensures clients receive nutritious, personalized meals. Her responsibilities include menu planning, grocery shopping, meal preparation, and training aides. Katy works closely with clients, caregivers, and NEHC RNs to create effective meal plans for those needing this service.
Katy Scott is a dedicated team member with a passion for food and nutrition. She believes meals should be both delicious and nourishing. With over 20 years of professional food service experience, she now seeks to share her passion with our clients. In the caregiving field since 2021, Katy truly loves working with people and showing compassion and respect.
Born in California, Katy has traveled and lived all over the United States before settling in North Carolina with her husband, two children, three dogs, one cat, fish, and a snake.
When not working, Katy enjoys reading and gardening. She is currently looking forward to earning her CNA.
What Sets Us Apart
We Offer Continuing Education Classes to our Caregivers.
The state of North Carolina requires all non-medical in-home caregivers complete two in-service units a year on Bloodborne Pathogens and Standard Precautions in the Workplace. At New Estuary Home Care, we are committed to offering additional education courses to our caregivers in an effort to improve their professional skills, in order to provide the best possible care for your loved ones. These education modules are supervised by our Registered Nurse.
Sophisticated Screening Process to Identify the Best Possible Caregivers.
We are extremely selective in our hiring process. All caregivers go through a series of interviews where they are asked a combination of clinical questions to assess their skills, as well as hypothetical scenarios. We carefully consider their responses, as well as their personalities, before moving to the next stages of our hiring process. Our hiring process then includes an extensive reference check, national background check, consent to a 4-panel drug screening, a Department of Motor Vehicle Records Check, and checking the North Carolina Department of Health Care Registry to ensure they are in good standing.
We are Licensed and Insured.
We are a state-licensed home care agency that maintains employer taxes, workers compensation insurance and unemployment insurance. Additionally our employees are W2 employees, not independent contractors. This takes the burden of employment off of clients and their families, and provides peace of mind that a professional caregiver has been chosen for them.
We Treat our Caregivers Like Family.
We believe that by caring for and supporting our care team, our care team will care for and support our clients. Our care team is a handpicked group of experienced, compassionate, reliable, professionals that give us a competitive edge. We appreciate the work they do and regularly acknowledge their passion.
We Offer Competitive Wages and Advancement
We attract and retain the best of the best in the industry by providing them with a positive management team, competitive wages, and the respect they deserve. Additionally, we try our very best to make them feel like an integral part of our team, by keeping them updated on the company’s growth.
For our caregivers, we offer a Personal Care Aide certification for free, instructed by our Registered Nurse.
Caregiver Spotlight
Each month, we recognize one of our awesome caregivers for their outstanding work.
How Can We Help?
We help with the difficult decisions. If you have a loved one who needs in-home care in the Cape Fear Region, take the first step towards peace of mind and contact New Estuary Home Care today. We provide professional, reliable services from experienced, compassionate caregivers.