Home Depot highlights CARE program for counseling, childcare and elder care

Home Depot’s CARE, also called Solutions for Life, is one of those benefits that can matter most when life starts getting complicated long before a formal leave request or attendance issue. It is available to all associates, full-time and part-time, and to household members, which makes it broader than many workers expect. Associates do not have to be enrolled in a Home Depot medical plan to use it, and they can reach the program 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at 1-800-553-3504.

What CARE actually covers

The program is built for the everyday pressures that can spill into a store shift. Home Depot lists counseling for marital, family, relationship, and personal concerns, along with legal and financial services. It also includes prenatal information and resources, adoption resources and referrals, childcare help, school program referrals for K-12, summer care options, parenting resources, college information and searches, scholarship and grant information, elder care resources, and help with alcohol, drug, and other addictions.

That range matters because retail schedules rarely fit neatly around real life. A late pickup from childcare, a sudden elder care question, a legal issue, or a mental health strain can turn into missed time, distracted work, or mounting stress if it is ignored. CARE is meant to be the first stop before those problems harden into a bigger workplace issue.

Who should use it and when

The clearest lesson for associates is that CARE is not just for a crisis. If family stress is making it harder to concentrate on a busy sales floor, if bills or legal questions are creating pressure at home, or if school or childcare logistics are starting to interfere with a shift, this is the kind of service to call early. Home Depot’s leave-of-absence guidance says associates may face medical, family, or personal situations beyond their control, which is exactly the kind of reality CARE is designed to address before the situation escalates.

For department leads and store managers, the value is practical as well as personal. A worker who gets connected to counseling, childcare guidance, or elder care referrals before a problem becomes urgent is more likely to stay focused, stay present, and avoid last-minute disruptions. In a store where coverage, customer traffic, and seasonal rushes can change by the hour, early support can make the difference between a manageable issue and a staffing headache.

Adoption, bereavement and family changes

Home Depot also ties CARE directly to major life events, not just general wellness. On its adoption assistance pages, the company says adoption support exists to help associates who are building their families, and CARE is one of the services involved. The program offers free counseling, education, resources, and referrals to people planning to adopt, which makes it especially relevant for workers navigating paperwork, appointments, and the emotional side of the process.

The same is true during loss. Home Depot’s bereavement guidance says associates can contact CARE for educational information and for bereavement counseling services in their community. That detail is important for workers who may not know where to start after the death of a family member. Instead of guessing which number to call or waiting until grief affects attendance or performance, CARE gives them a direct path to support.

Part of a larger benefit picture

Home Depot presents CARE as one piece of a broader associate support model under its Total Value approach. Its careers site also describes benefits that include health and wellness benefits, legal help, bonuses, and tuition reimbursement. That broader framing matters because it shows CARE is not a standalone perk hidden in the background. It sits alongside other supports meant to help associates manage both work and life.

The company’s deeper history of associate aid reinforces that point. Home Depot’s employee assistance program, The Homer Fund, supports associates facing unforeseen financial hardship. The company says the fund has been helping associates since 1999 and marked 25 years in 2024. Home Depot also said The Homer Fund helped more than 7,500 Home Depot families in 2018, a reminder that the company has a long-running internal tradition of employee support rather than a one-off benefit campaign.

That history also explains why CARE deserves more attention on the floor. Store culture at Home Depot often emphasizes know-how, hustle, and pride in helping customers and pro contractors solve problems. CARE extends that same practical mindset to associates themselves: when life is the problem, there is a tool for that too.

Why it matters on a Home Depot floor

For associates, the biggest takeaway is simple: use CARE before stress becomes a performance issue. It can help with counseling, childcare, elder care, adoption questions, grief support, financial concerns, and other personal problems that do not wait for a convenient moment. For managers, the benefit is a stabilizer that can help preserve attendance, morale, and focus if people know about it early enough to act.

Home Depot’s stores run on timing, teamwork, and reliability. CARE is the kind of underused resource that can keep a personal issue from becoming a scheduling problem, and a scheduling problem from becoming something bigger.