A new program in Suffolk trains future home health aides - free of charge.

With elder care costs rising and taxing families, Imani Barbour is hoping to help ease the burden a little by becoming a home health aide.

"I do have a passion for that seeing as how I do take care of my grandmother, so it is also personal for me," she said.

Future home aides, like Imani, are in short supply on Long Island, according to Gurwin Home Care Services.

"The need is still great in the home setting, particularly in Nassau and Suffolk," said Broughan Gorey, with Gurwin.

According to Gurwin, having a loved one live in an assisted living facility can be tens of thousand dollars a year. Gurwin says having a home health aide is a fraction of the cost.

Imani is in her second day of Gurwin's new home health aide training, a program for people looking for work, and training them to be certified home health aides for free.

"Opportunities like this they're very costly. With this program it's free, we get paid, but they also provide us with everything we need, textbooks," said Imani.

Trainees learn how to care for an elderly patient from a registered nurse.

"It could be bathing, it could be grooming, it could be just helping them get to the bathroom," said Gorey.

The program is a 13-day course with two days of hands-on training. Once trainees pass the test at the end of the class, they get placed and then start providing care to those who need it.

"The goal after the training is to start working and saving," said Imani.

The plan is to grow this program, creating more home health aides on Long Island providing health care services at home.

Gurwin's next class starts in September.

If you are interested in learning more about home health aide services and the free training program, click here for services or here for training information.