October 31,2008
by Hank Russell, Patchogue Medford News

For a quarter of a century, Utopia Home Care, Inc. has been providing not just home care for its patients, but training people to care for those who need it most. The home health agency offers its patients the best in care, and the community a free education in caring for their loved ones requiring care at home.

Utopia Home Care is a New York State-licensed agency providing the services of nurses, home health aides, personal care aides, live-in aides, bilingual aides and homemakers. “Live-ins [aides] are a big factor on Long Island,” said Jim Kelly, Utopia Home Care’s marketing/management advisor. “We provide more live-ins than any company on Long Island. We also have a very large free training programs on Long Island to certain home health aides and personal care aides.”

In 1983, Utopia Home Care first opened its doors in Kings Park, which is now its corporate headquarters. The agency was founded by Manuel Martinez (pictured), who is currently its president and chief operating officer, and his wife Angelina. According to the company, Manuel Martinez came up with the name after reading Sir Thomas More’s classic novel “Utopia” for an English Literature class at Fordham University.

Before he enrolled in college, he served two years in the U.S. Army as a communications specialist and achieved the rank of sergeant. He graduated from Fordham in 1966 with a bachelor of science degree, and later earned a master’s in business administration from Adelphi University with a concentration in management.

Prior to forming Utopia Home care, Martinez worked in management analysis and systems planning with a number of financial institutions. He also worked as a senior consultant with Lybrand, Ross and Montgomery, and KPMG Peat Marwick. In addition, Martinez worked in various city, state and federal agencies.

In 1982, Martinez prepared a business plan and sought a $10,000 business loan. After being turned down by several banks and the Small Business Administration, he borrowed $5,000 from his mother-in-law. In 1983, he started operating Utopia Home Care out of his home. After eight months, his business broke even with only seven clients. That same year, he moved his business into a small office in Kings Park.

But things took a while for the business to flourish. Martinez had to perform all aspects of the company, including marketing. He did not draw a salary for the first two years; when he finally did, it was only $150 a week. Over time, he brought in his children one at a time to handle managerial duties. In 1987, Utopia received a Medicaid contract in Suffolk County and, a couple of years later in Nassau County, with the Department of Social Services.

Since its inception, Utopia Home Care has expanded, opening five more locations on Long Island — including one in Patchogue — three more in New York City, six in Connecticut, five in Florida, one in Pennsylvania and another one in South Carolina. The Patchogue office opened in March 1989, according to Kelly.

Some of the unique aspects of the company, Kelly said, are the fact that it is both a family-owned and operated and a minority-owned company. It offers an extensive free HHA training program. Since the agency has been in operation, it has been named five times as one of the fastest-growing companies on Long Island by KPMG Peat Marwick and the Hofstra University School of Business. For the last 10 years, it has been Long Island’s No. 1 ranked minority-owned business.

Martinez has been cited in the Hispanic community for his service. In 1996, he received a Leadership Award from the National Association of Puerto Rican Hispanic Social Workers. A year later, he was presented with the Hispanic Businessman of the Year Award from Adelante of Suffolk County. He was also awarded the first Latino Man of Distinction Award from the Latina Women’s Society for Social Change in 1999.

In 2006, Martinez received two Businessman of the Year awards — one by United Brotherhood Association and another by the Multicultural Alumni Chapter of Adelphi University. Last year, he received the M/WBE Trailblazer Award from Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi and the Nassau County Office of Minority Affairs for his dedication towards business leadership on Long Island. This year, Martinez was presented with the Business Advocate of the Year Award at the 3rd Annual Long Island “Somos El Futuro” (“We Are The Future”) Conference by New York State Assemblyman Phil Ramos.
Besides offering free training to educate the public, Kelly said, “We publish our own health education newsletter four times a year as a community service.” Copies of the newsletter also appear on Utopia Home Care’s website (www.utopiahomecare.com).

On November 20, Utopia Home care is offering free caregiver training classes to the general public at its Patchogue location. Topics include ambulating with a person, cane or walker; transferring a person from a bed to a wheelchair and back, from the wheelchair to the toilet and back; turning and positioning, skin and incontinent care and use of a bedpan and urinal; and use of a Hoyer lift. “We give free caregiver training for people who want extra help taking care of their loved ones,” Kelly said.

These classes, according to the company, help the public meet the needs of Long Island’s growing aging and disable populations. The reason people take these classes is that people are increasingly turning to home health care agencies, or sometimes choosing to take on caretaking responsibilities themselves, or a combination of both, rather than have their family member cared for in a nursing home or other such facility.

For more information about this class, or to learn more about upcoming classes, call (631) 654-8006, or visit www.utopiahomecare.com.

Utopia Home Care
116 E. Main Street, Suite D
Patchogue, NY 11772
(631) 654-8006
www.utopiahomecare.com