Family Caregiving is a widely accepted term, understood by most people today. But it wasn’t always so, especially not in the year 2000 and definitely not within the corporate environment. Yet, the vision of one man who understood the value of educating it’s employees and customers about family caregiving and how to be a family caregiver while caring for oneself, was radical for a health insurance company. To launch the initiative, HIP Health Plan of NY, now Emblem Health, turned to Greg Johnson. Greg was a successful businessman, a multiple stroke survivor and pursuing his life-long dream of becoming an ordained inter-faith minister. While family caregiving was a new concept to Greg formally, he had been the recipient of caregiving from a loved one and was a family caregiver to another. In Greg, EmblemHealth found the perfect person to create this key initiative and remain faithful to its mission: to keep family caregivers caregivers, and not care recipients. Today, Greg continues to serve EmblemHealth as the Chief Advisor on Family Caregiving to its CEO.

Greg also enjoys sharing his expertise worldwide through articles, speeches, at seminars and retreats and gatherings at his residence in Bali, Indonesia. Often called “The Rev,” Greg has coupled the idea of “Unity in Diversity” with the “Golden Rule” that is at the heart of family caregiving- before I can care for you I need to care for myself – and shares it with inter-faith groups, governments, corporations and individuals around the world. Through this work, and in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic which has made caregivers of so many of us, Greg sees a positive gift emerging: Creating a world of WE or Wellness, and not I or Illness, where we are all one, moving from “I” to “We,” to a spiritual life of caring and support.

It is with this in mind that Commerce and Caring offers information, resources and comforting words to individuals and companies all over the world to meet the challenges when called upon to be a family caregiver.