Founder Interview
Faith-Marie Griffiths
The best advice I can give someone starting a business is this: start with the problem, not the logo.
So nice to meet you! First off, what’s your name? Tell our readers a bit about yourself—where you’re from originally and where you live now.
My name is Faith-Marie Griffiths. I am a master's-trained Registered Nurse with board certification in Dementia care. I am a healthcare professional, nonprofit leader, senior advocate, and health technology specialist whose career reflects a lifelong commitment to service, education, and compassionate care.
Originally from the beautiful island of Jamaica, West Indies, Faith-Marie began her career as a registered nurse before migrating to the United States, where she continued to advance professionally in nursing, healthcare technology, dementia care, and senior advocacy.
Today, she serves as President and Chairperson of Treasure Coast Caregiver Workforce Foundation Inc. (TCCWFI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to recruiting, educating, mentoring, supporting, and connecting compassionate caregivers with career opportunities while strengthening the quality of care available to older adults and families.
Faith-Marie also serves as a Senior Placement Advisor and Advocate, helping seniors and families navigate care options with dignity, compassion, and informed guidance. Her personal experience as Power of Attorney and advocate for her aging parents has further strengthened her passion for improving the caregiving experience and building a better-prepared caregiver workforce.
Professionally, Faith-Marie also brings extensive experience in healthcare information technology as an EMR/Epic Analyst. Her Epic expertise includes 15 years in Inpatient Clinical Documentation, Clinical Case Management, Ambulatory, and Beacon/Oncology modules, allowing her to bridge clinical practice, healthcare operations, and technology.
Beyond her professional roles, Faith-Marie is a devoted wife and proud mother of two accomplished young ladies.
Her work is united by one purpose: to improve lives by strengthening caregivers, advocating for seniors, advancing healthcare systems, and creating meaningful pathways for individuals to serve their communities with excellence.
Tell us one thing you love about where you live now.
The nonprofit, Treasure Coast Caregiver Workforce Foundation Inc. is located in the sunny Treasure Coast region of Florida. It is made up of three (3) counties, namely Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River Counties. It is the 6th largest region in Florida but houses the largest senior population in the state. The region got its name from real Spanish treasure lost offshore more than 300 years ago. In 1715, a fleet of 11 Spanish ships carrying gold, silver, jewels, and other valuable cargo from Spain’s American territories was caught in a hurricane off Florida’s Atlantic coast.
Most of the ships were wrecked along the area that is now Indian River and St. Lucie Counties. For centuries, coins and artifacts from those wrecks occasionally appeared along the beaches. Then, beginning in the early 1960s, treasure hunters began recovering significant amounts of Spanish gold, silver, jewelry, and artifacts near Sebastian Inlet and farther south.
Today, the name most commonly refers to communities such as Vero Beach, Fort Pierce, Port St. Lucie, Jensen Beach, and Stuart. The Treasure Coast was named for treasure recovered from its shores. TCCWFI has redefined today’s treasure as the people who care for our seniors—our caregivers.
Tell us a little more about what your company does and how it started. How does it help your customers?
Treasure Coast Caregiver Workforce Foundation Inc. (TCCWFI) is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit created to strengthen the caregiver workforce while improving the quality of care available to our seniors, veterans and their families across Florida’s Treasure Coast.
TCCWFI was born from a deeply personal, sad caregiving experience. Founder and President Faith-Marie Griffiths, MSN-RN, Dementia-BC, spent years advocating for her aging parents and navigating complex senior-care decisions. During her father’s final care journey, the family experienced an encounter with a caregiver who lacked the knowledge and preparation needed to understand his changing cognitive and care needs as he struggled with dementia.
The caregiver was present, but presence alone was not enough. The interaction became distressing because the caregiver did not fully understand how to interpret his behavior, communicate compassionately, protect his dignity, or recognize when additional assistance was needed.
That experience revealed a critical gap: many caregivers have compassion, yet compassion must also be supported by appropriate education, mentorship, and skills.
Faith-Marie realized her family was not alone. Other families were also struggling to find affordable, prepared caregivers, while senior-care employers were experiencing difficulty recruiting and retaining qualified workers.
TCCWFI was created to help bridge that gap.
Our work helps multiple parts of the community:
Caregivers gain skills, confidence, mentorship, employment opportunities, and career pathways.
Our seniors gain access to more compassionate and better-prepared caregivers.
The communities and families gain greater confidence that their loved ones will be treated with dignity, safety, and respect.
Senior-care employers gain access to a developing pipeline of prepared workers who receive continued support after placement.
What began with one family’s difficult caregiving experience has grown into a larger mission: build the caregiver workforce we would want caring for our own loved ones.
Empowering Caregivers • Enriching Senior Lives • Strengthening Communities
If someone wants to start a business, what advice would you give them?
The best advice I can give someone starting a business is this: start with the problem, not the logo.
A strong business begins by answering three important questions:
- Who needs help?
- What problem are they trying to solve?
- Why should they choose you?
Before investing heavily in branding, websites, or marketing, take time to speak with the people you hope to serve. Test your idea, listen carefully, and determine whether there is a genuine need for your solution.
That lesson became very real for me.
Before I even realized I had the foundation of a business, I met with mentors through SCORE and the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in my region. I was not there initially to pitch a business idea. I was there expressing my concern about what I was seeing in the caregiving workforce—particularly the shortage of caregivers who were adequately prepared to support older adults living with dementia.
The Treasure Coast has a significant and growing senior population, yet families and senior-care providers continue to face challenges finding caregivers with the training, confidence, and dementia-focused skills needed to provide quality care.
Both mentors listened and agreed: there was a real problem.
Then they gave me advice that changed my perspective. They essentially said, “You identified the problem. Now create the solution.”
That moment taught me something important about entrepreneurship. Sometimes your business idea does not begin with a business plan. It begins with frustration, an unmet need, a personal experience, or a problem you cannot stop thinking about.
So, before asking, “What business should I start?” ask instead:
“What problem am I uniquely positioned to help solve?”
That question can change everything.
What is one piece of feedback from a happy customer or client that you won't forget?
One piece of feedback from a client that I will never forget came from C. Dee, also known as Carine.
After experiencing the support of Treasure Coast Senior Placement Solutions, Carine left a Google review describing me as someone who listens to caregivers, genuinely cares about seniors, and keeps their best interests at heart.
That feedback meant a great deal to me because it confirmed exactly what I wanted families to experience when working with us: to feel heard, supported, respected, and confident that someone truly cares about their loved one.
But the most meaningful part of this story is that our relationship did not end when the service was completed.
Because of the trust and connection that developed through that experience, Carine remained engaged with our mission. Over time, the relationship grew from client to community partner. Today, she serves as Community Advocate/Liaison on the Governing Board of Treasure Coast Caregiver Workforce Foundation Inc. (TCCWFI).
That transformation is something I will always remember.
For me, great customer service is not simply completing a transaction. It is building relationships rooted in trust, compassion, listening, and service. Sometimes, when you serve someone well, they become more than a satisfied customer—they become an advocate for the mission.
Carine's journey from receiving support to helping us strengthen our community represents the kind of impact I want both TCSPS and TCCWFI to create.
We do not just serve people. We build relationships—and sometimes those relationships grow into partnerships that help us serve even more people.
Where do you see your company in the future?
In the future, I see Treasure Coast Caregiver Workforce Foundation Inc. becoming a leading caregiver workforce development organization in Florida, with a model that can eventually be replicated in other communities.
My vision is for TCCWFI to build a strong, sustainable pipeline of caregivers through CareForce Pathways—Recruit, Train, Specialize, Place, Retain, and Advance. I want caregivers to see this field not simply as a job, but as a respected career pathway with education, mentorship, advancement opportunities, and long-term economic stability.
I also see TCCWFI becoming a trusted bridge between caregivers, training institutions, healthcare employers, senior-living communities, families, and community organizations. As we grow, we plan to expand dementia-focused education, caregiver wellness programs, employer partnerships, technology-supported training, and career advancement opportunities.
Most importantly, I want our impact to be measurable in two ways: caregivers building better futures for themselves and seniors receiving better care because the workforce supporting them is better prepared.
Ultimately, I envision TCCWFI helping transform the way communities recruit, prepare, value, and retain caregivers—first across the Treasure Coast, then throughout Florida and beyond.
What is the biggest misconception about your industry?
One of the biggest misconceptions about the caregiver industry is that anyone with a caring heart can automatically be an effective caregiver.
Compassion is essential, but compassion alone is not enough. Caregivers need education, communication skills, dementia awareness, medication awareness, emotional resilience, professionalism, and the ability to recognize when a senior’s condition is changing.
Another misconception is that caregiving is simply an entry-level job with little room for advancement. I believe caregiving should be viewed as a professional career pathway. With the right training, mentorship, specialization, and support, caregivers can build stable careers and progress into higher-level healthcare roles.
That misconception affects both sides of the industry. When caregivers are undervalued or underprepared, turnover increases, employers struggle with staffing, and families may experience inconsistent care.
At TCCWFI, we are working to change that narrative. Our goal is to help communities see caregivers for what they truly are: an essential part of the healthcare workforce and a critical support system for older adults and families.
What has been one of your biggest struggles building your business, and how did you deal with it?
One of my biggest struggles in building TCCWFI has been turning a strong mission into a sustainable organization with the funding, systems, and partnerships needed to grow.
I knew the caregiver workforce problem was real. Families need better-prepared caregivers, employers need reliable staff, and caregivers need more training, mentorship, and career support. The challenge was building the infrastructure around that vision while still being a relatively new nonprofit.
I addressed it by focusing on relationships and structure. I sought guidance from mentors, built partnerships with educational and workforce organizations, connected with senior-care employers, developed CareForce Pathways, strengthened governance, and became intentional about grants, sponsorships, data tracking, and measurable outcomes.
I also learned not to try to solve everything at once. Instead, I began breaking the vision into clear phases: recruit, train, specialize, place, retain, and advance.
That struggle taught me an important lesson: passion may start an organization, but systems, partnerships, accountability, and persistence are what allow it to grow.
Today, I see every challenge as an opportunity to strengthen the foundation so TCCWFI can serve more caregivers, employers, seniors, and families over time.
What was your favorite music artist and athlete growing up?
Growing up, my favorite music artist was Bob Marley. His music represented hope, strength, unity, resilience, and pride in our Jamaican heritage. His message reached far beyond entertainment and continues to inspire people around the world.
My favorite athlete was Donald Quarrie, the legendary Jamaican sprinter. I admired his discipline, determination, and the pride he brought to Jamaica through his accomplishments on the international stage.
Both Bob Marley and Donald Quarrie represented excellence in their own fields. As a young Jamaican, seeing individuals from my country achieve global recognition showed me the importance of perseverance, believing in your gifts, and never allowing where you come from to limit where you can go.
Any shoutouts you want to make?
I would love to give a special shoutout to my family, especially my husband and my two amazing daughters, for their constant support, patience, encouragement, and belief in everything I am building.
I also want to honor my parents, whose aging journey and caregiving needs helped shape my passion for senior advocacy and ultimately inspired much of the work behind Treasure Coast Caregiver Workforce Foundation Inc.
A heartfelt thank-you also goes to the TCCWFI Board of Directors, community partners, caregivers, volunteers, mentors, and senior-care professionals who continue to believe in the mission and help move it forward.
I am especially grateful for the guidance I received from SCORE and SBDC mentors, who challenged me to stop simply identifying problems in the caregiver workforce and begin building solutions.
Most importantly, I want to recognize the caregivers who show up every day for our seniors and families. Their work is often unseen, but their impact is tremendous.
And finally, a shoutout to the Treasure Coast community for welcoming the vision, supporting the mission, and reminding me that meaningful change truly takes a village.
Where can our readers learn more about you and your company?
Readers can learn more about me and the work of Treasure Coast Caregiver Workforce Foundation Inc. (TCCWFI) by visiting www.TreasureCoastCaregiverInc.org.
There, you can learn more about our mission, caregiver workforce initiatives, community programs, partnerships, and opportunities to support or become involved with our work.
You can also connect with us through our social media platforms and community outreach channels to follow upcoming events, caregiver education, workforce opportunities, and impact stories.
For those interested in my broader work in senior advocacy and placement, you can also visit www.TC-SeniorLiving.com.
Most of all, I invite readers to stay connected, share our mission, and become part of the movement to strengthen caregivers and improve the lives of older adults and families across the Treasure Coast.
Together, you and I can build the workforce our seniors deserve.
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Empowering Caregivers • Enriching Senior Lives • Strengthening Communities
