Visiting Angels - Living Assistance Services - Serving the Northwest with Home-Care Services

Our Values

INTEGRITY. SERVICE. TEAMWORK. These are the cornerstone values of Visiting Angels. Visiting Angels is a family business that began as a way for Debbie Bengen, and her husband, Fred Bengen, to put those values into action and help meet the needs of the community in which they grew up.

Our Background

Debbie and Fred were born and raised in Whatcom County, graduated from Mt. Baker High School in 1971, and were married later that year. Debbie was able to stay home and raise their two children, Chad and Kit, while Fred worked in the boat and construction industries.

The family moved to Portland, Oregon in 1981. Fred attended Multnomah Bible College and began a ministry career lasting over 20 years, including 15 years at Marietta Community Evangelical Free Church, back in Bellingham. During this time Debbie and Fred actively ministered to the local community and also did therapeutic foster care for high need teenage boys.

Our Start

In January of 2001, recognizing that the community had a growing need for in-home senior care, Debbie opened Visiting Angels as an agency initially serving Whatcom, Skagit, San Juan and Island Counties. With a strong team of caregivers committed to our values, Visiting Angels was embraced by the community and experienced phenomenal growth.

It soon became clear that a second location was needed to better serve Skagit and Island Counties so, in 2002, the Mt. Vernon office was established. Then in January of 2004, Visiting Angels opened an office in Everett to serve Snohomish County. Later that same year, Visiting Angels’ Bellingham office moved out of Fred and Debbie’s house and into its own building.

Today, Visiting Angels continues to be a family business, as Chad Bengen joined his parents in 2002 to help run the company. And the initial values that led Debbie to start Visiting Angels continue to be the keys to its success.