What do you do if Mom, Dad or Aunt Zelda needs an extra hand or a ride and you aren’t able to provide it? You can call Seniors Helping Seniors, a new area business that specializes in providing non-medical services for seniors by seniors.
Celia Richey, a member of Congregation Beth Torah, purchased the franchise, which serves clients in Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas, late last year and said since the first of the year it has “gotten really great response.” The organization has franchises throughout the United States.
Richey explained that Seniors Helping Seniors provides in-home, non-medical services for seniors by seniors.
“We provide things like companion care, transportation to doctor’s appointments, shopping, errands, meal preparation and light housekeeping. We also do home maintenance and yard work, which is a little bit different than the other providers in the area.
We do anything that is going to help keep seniors in their homes as long as possible,” she said.
The home, Richey said, can actually be a single-family home, an apartment or even an assisted-living apartment.
“We can help people living in assisted living. The person may need someone to come and take them out to lunch every once in a while or just come to sit with them because the facility’s employees are not companions,” Richey said.
A Kansas City native, Richey said Seniors Helping Seniors’ clients need assistance for various reasons. Their kids may be too busy to help, they may live out of town or they simply might not have a connection with their children or other relatives.
Providers are generally between the ages of 55 and 70. They don’t provide any medical services, so the state of Kansas does not require them to be licensed in any way. But Richey makes sure they attend monthly training session about a variety of topics, including Alzheimer’s disease or nutrition, and the sessions often feature expert guest speakers.
An attorney who for the past 25 years worked in the financial services industry, Richey herself received training at Seniors Helping Seniors corporate headquarters in Reading, Pa. She said the really cool thing about seniors providing these services to other seniors is that they often have a special connection with each other. Richey uses Glenn Miller as an example.
“When a 75-year-old says I really used to love to dance to Glenn Miller, a 25-year-old might ask if Glenn Miller is the new forward on the KU basketball team. Whereas a 60-year-old or a 65-year-old is going to know who Glenn Miller is,” Richey said.
Because of the client-provider connection, Richey said clients often feel they are really getting “more of a friendship rather than just paying for somebody to help them.”
When hiring caregivers, which Richey said has been “surprisingly easy,” she said she looks for people who have the heart of a volunteer who want or need to make a little extra money.
“I’m finding providers who have been edged out of other jobs or need part-time work but they want it to be incredibly flexible,” she said.
“All of our providers go through an extensive background check and are insured, to ensure our clients peace of mind,” she continued.
Providers have the opportunity to turn down assignments if they aren’t available.
“They are able to live their lives and their retirement as they want to, but they can also give back to the community and make a little extra money. I’ve gotten a great response and I have some really great providers,” Richey said.
Seniors Helping Seniors employs both men and women. If the client wants ongoing care of some type, most often he or she will get the same provider on a regular basis.
If a client is to meet a new provider, it’s important to Richey that she personally makes the introductions.
“Any time a new provider goes to a client’s house, I go with them. I don’t want somebody strange just knocking at the door,” Richey said. “I want to make sure that everybody is comfortable and everybody is OK with the situation. I really try very hard to match my clients with the right providers.”
To do that, Richey meets with each client before making the provider assignment.
“I look at the situation and what it is the client wants to have done. Then I make sure that the person that I call is somebody that I think will match up well,” she said.
Richey also prefers that her providers have had previous experience caring for older adults.
“It’s really more like taking care of your mom, which is how I got into it. My mom doesn’t drive anymore, so she needs help getting to doctor’s appointments and things like that,” Richey said.
“My experience made me think about what other people do if they don’t have children in town,” she said.
For more information contact Richey at (913) 232-7532 or .