It started with agrandfather
People do better at home, making their own choices, with dignity. Melissa Buchanan built Friends Home Care and Hospice on that belief, and on a promise she made at her grandfather’s bedside.
Melissa Buchanan is a certified nursing assistant who spent years working inside nursing homes. Then her grandfather went into hospice in one, and what she watched happen to him was the worst care she had ever seen. She said she could do better. So she went out on her own, brought a nurse alongside her, and started Friends Home Care and Hospice. One family told another. The phone kept ringing. It has not stopped since.
She is still the one holding the hand
Melissa did not build a company so she could step away from the hard part. When a client reaches their final hours, she is often the one in the room. She holds a hand. She listens. She is there for the last breath, and she stays with the family afterward while they cry. Most people cannot do that work. Melissa built a company out of the ones who can.
20 to 25 caregivers. One promise.
We’ve had the honor of caring for hundreds of Des Moines families. Our team is 20 to 25 caregivers strong, men and women alike. Every one is a certified nursing assistant with long-term care experience, every one is background-checked, and Friends Home Care and Hospice is bonded and insured. We stay small on purpose — small enough to know every client by name, because the person who walks into your loved one’s home should be someone we would send to our own.
“We treat each client as if it was one of our own loved ones — with respect, with patience, with heart.”
- 12+Years caring for Iowa families
- 24/7Always on call when you need us
- HundredsDes Moines families cared for
Some seasons call for a little help. Others call for everything. Friends Home Care and Hospice covers the whole road — from companionship and personal care through memory care, respite for worn-out family caregivers, around-the-clock support, and hands-on care at the end of life alongside your hospice team. Whatever comes next, your family never has to start over with strangers.
Every person deserves to grow older, heal, and say goodbye in the place they love most. Our mission is simple: keep people home, care for them like family, and be a friend through every season of life.
We show up the way friends do
A friend at the door
Warmth you can feel from the first hello. Patience that never runs out. A real smile, every single visit. We show up the way friends do.
Certified, every single one
Every caregiver is a certified nursing assistant with long-term care experience. The person at the door is a professional who has done this work for years.
Care that goes the distance
From the first few hours of companionship to the final hours of life, we are the one call your family ever needs to make.
Built around real life
A few hours, full days, overnight, or around the clock. Care plans flex as life changes, because life always does.
Featured on the cover of WoW Connect DSM
In its February and March 2024 issue, WoW Connect DSM put Melissa Buchanan on its cover. The magazine is made for women business owners by women business owners, and it told the story of a caregiving business that keeps giving back. Real recognition matters when you are trusting someone with a person you love.
Caregiving does not clock out. On Saturday mornings you will find this team in the homeless camps of Des Moines. And Melissa and her husband Scott serve on mission trips to El Salvador with King’s Castle Ministries, where Melissa has led medical teams and their business paid to build a church. The heart is the same in every place. Somebody needs help, and you help them.
Read how we give backWhere we care
We care for families across the Des Moines metro and the communities around it. From Perry to Pleasantville and Colfax to Van Meter, help from a friend is never far away. Not sure if that includes your town? One quick call will tell you.
Let’s talk about your family
A free conversation with a caregiver who listens first. Tell us what your loved one needs, and we will help you find the right care.