Shelley Joseph-Kordell

"I can only echo countless others in saying what a kind, caring, compassionate human being Shelley was. She helped me and my family in so many ways with her guidance and expertise, and touched us with her love."  ~Family member of a client

Shelley Joseph-Kordell was a pioneer in geriatric care management, a field that provides the elderly – and their families – an array of support including medical advocacy, care coordination, long-term care advice, and research and arrangement of community services. More than 20 years earlier, she had anticipated the need for advocacy and service to seniors, founding the company “Estates in Transition/Rent a Daughter (now Pathfinder Care Management/Rent a Daughter) to serve seniors and their families. Setting the bench mark for care management for the elderly in the Twin Cities, Shelley made professional advocacy and service for seniors her life’s passion.

Shortly before Shelley’s untimely death, she had expressed optimism that the needs of the elderly were gaining increased community attention. Shelley’s family, friends, and colleagues have created the Award and Scholarship Ceremony to honor Shelley’s life and contributions to the community, and recognize those who work with the elderly.

More comments about Shelley:

"Shelley's presence in our family life was transformative: she brought matchless insight, compassion, experience, and skill ... She was among a handful of the most skilled and caring and resourceful professionals I have ever encountered. ... I will always be grateful beyond measure for Shelley's gifts to us, and to me, personally."

"Shelley was the best thing that happened to my aunt in her later years."

“During the past three years, Shelley was the one who helped guide us, our mom, our aunt and now our uncle through the maze that is aging in America. … We all had learned so much from her, through our many visits, emails and phone calls. She held a lantern up to our path, preparing us in mercifully small doses for what she knew lay ahead. Without her, we would have dragged our feet far too long, or rushed ahead way too prematurely. She was our buffer and rock, when friends, relatives and strangers lobbed their own anger, denial, fear and guilt at us.”