Seniors Helping Seniors

Monday, April 25, 2011

New Franchise Opens in Michigan

Our Seniors Helping Seniors family here in Michigan is growing! A big welcome to our newest Partners, Nancy and Sarah. They will be providing the same services for the elderly in their community that we do in the greater Grand Rapids, MI area for those seniors who want to maintain their independence and stay in their own home.

This is our 8th franchise in the state of Michigan, dedicated to providing loving, caring and compassionate in-home health care for seniors. Some of our services include: Companion Care, respite, Alzheimer's care, handyman services, yard word, meal preparation, transportation, medication reminders and other non-medical home care services.

The full press release for Nancy and Sarah can be read below -
For Immediate Release - April 26, 2011  


Mother and daughter team join forces providing heartfelt assistance for senior citizens in Northern Macomb and Southern St. Clair counties providing jobs and in-home assistance.

Rochester Hills, MI – To help meet the growing demand of older Michigan residents who want to remain in their own homes and stay as self-sufficient as possible Nancy Olson and her daughter Sarah Mullins have established a new Seniors Helping Seniors® in-home service franchise location in Rochester Hills. Their office will be providing services for seniors throughout Northern Macomb / Southern St. Clair Counties, and they will be hiring local seniors to help provide services.

Seniors Helping Seniors in-home services offers loving, caring, compassionate non-medical services by seniors for seniors to help them live independently with dignity and respect.  Seniors Helping Seniors Receivers are matched with senior Providers. They provide services, such as: companionship, transportation, meal preparation, overnight stays and handyman services among others. Providers are seniors with the heart of a volunteer, but are compensated for their time.

Nancy has had experience providing care for family members. “Through this experience I have learned how quickly circumstances can change in a family due to illness and/or aging and how important it is to be able to find caring, reliable people to step in and help families cope with those changes.”  She realizes how much her own mother and aunts could have benefited from Seniors Helping Seniors services and looks forward to the opportunity to help other families.
                                                         
After Nancy lost her husband she cared for a woman with cancer and helped her stay in her home.  “I found great satisfaction helping this woman each day.  Small things became big memories. She had no appetite and was very thin. I could carry her upstairs to help her bathe, change and get tucked her into bed.  She wouldn’t eat for her sons but with persistence and patience I was able to find things she was willing to eat. Although she only lived another three months, those months were some of the most rewarding for both of us. We formed a genuine bond and friendship. We began as strangers and ended as friends. That relationship motivated me to make the decision to bring Seniors Helping Seniors services to our area.”  


Sarah, a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), has seen a change in healthcare from patient based care to finance based care focused on volume and cost. Sarah has always enjoyed working with people and providing them quality care. “I am so excited to have this opportunity to be involved in seniors’ lives and to help them remain independent and living in their own homes.”   My mother and I are embarking on this franchise endeavor mostly because of past personal health hardships in our own family.  We want to be able to create a safe, compassionate place for people to turn when they need help.  After experiencing what it is like to go through a long illness as the sole caregiver we recognize the need for quality, empathetic care.  We would like to become a trusted resource for our community.  We have always felt the desire to help others and we believe this will be a way to put words into action.”

The Seniors Helping Seniors organization differs from other area services in that they find providers who are mature and have a lot in common with those for whom they are helping. These providers are people who truly want to help others and have the heart of volunteers not just employees motivated by a paycheck. These providers welcome to opportunity to provide comfort and care to members of their own peer group while supplementing their incomes.

Both Nancy and Sarah are active in the community. Nancy has volunteered in the Rochester Hills community schools.  She has also participated in the Rochester Junior Women’s League, and the annual Wayne State University brain tumor fund raiser.  Sarah has volunteered with the Fayetteville, NC MacPherson Presbyterian Church Youth Group, the Fayetteville Animal Protection Society (A no kill animal shelter), The Salvation Army Christmas gift drive and was a member and volunteer for the Fayetteville, NC chapter of the Jaycees. She has been a leader of the Family Readiness Group for the 37th Engineer Battalion from 1999-2003 at Fort Bragg, NC.  Sarah is also active in the National Multiple Sclerosis Foundation annual walk-a-thon.

“We know that in order for our Franchise Partners to be successful in this industry, they need to have a passion for both working with seniors and doing good. When we met with Nancy, we knew that she had the heart we look for in our Partners along with the desire to be successful. We did not talk to Sarah until after both of them went to an Open House in Reading, PA to meet our founders, but we were very pleased to hear from the home office that Sarah had many of the same qualities as her mother. We know that Nancy and Sarah will be a wonderful resource within their community as well as a great addition to our growing Seniors Helping Seniors family here in Michigan.”  Dave VanderLinde, Jr., Regional Owner Michigan

Philip Yocom, and his wife, Kiran Yocom, co-founded Seniors Helping Seniors in-home services, which began as a non-profit organization serving Berks County, Pennsylvania over ten years ago. The original Seniors Helping Seniors center continues that tradition, providing over 1,000 hours of service every month.

Philip Yocom said, “What began as a heartfelt mission to fill a need that was not being served by our local community is now being recognized as a prime business opportunity being fueled by the fastest growing demographic in our society.” He continued, “We want the existing Seniors Helping Seniors organization and our franchises to be the first place that seniors in need of non-medical services and those seeking extra income call.”

Seniors Helping Seniors organization has grown to over one-hundred franchises in over thirty states including Arizona, Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Washington.

Philip adds, “We support all of our franchises with the expertise we have gained in running the Seniors Helping Seniors Berks County office.  We also provide marketing, sales, management, and technology support. We believe we have found a practical, cost-effective way to help seniors remain independent and continue contributing to their community.”

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Groupon

Seniors Helping Seniors of West Michigan now has a Groupon store.....but we need to have 25 followers before we can actually send out any coupons....so, please follow us today and then when we do start sending out coupons forward them to any seniors in your life who could benefit from the loving, caring and compassionate services provided by Seniors Helping Seniors in the greater Grand Rapids area.
http://www.groupon.com/merchants/seniors-helping-seniors

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Speak out against more cuts for services for seniors




SPEAK OUT AGAINST MORE CUTS IN OSA AGING SERVICES!!!
 


BACKGROUND:
Will the cuts ever end???  From 2009 – 2011, programs funded by the Office of Services to the Aging (OSA) were cut by $10 million (28%), and even more cuts are proposed for next year!

The Governor is recommending another $2.2 million in OSA cuts, coming from meals ($800,000), community services ($1 million) and volunteer programs ($400,000).     

Last week, a Senate Subcommittee issued its recommendations, and it agreed with the $1 million cut to community services, increased the cuts to volunteer programs to $700,000, but restored the $800,000 cut in senior meals.  A House Subcommittee also issued its recommendations, and it significantly increased the OSA cuts to $8 million.  The House would cut nutrition by $1.6 million, community services by $1.8 million, and would totally eliminate all state funding for senior volunteer programs - $4.5 million. 

The Subcommittees are just the beginning – the next step takes place in the full Appropriations Committees in the House and Senate.  Legislators need to hear loud and strong from seniors, caregivers, providers and other advocates how these cuts will hurt frail older Michiganians, and will increase the use of costly nursing homes. 


WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Contact the Chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees listed below and express your concern about the devastating cuts to the Office of Services to the Aging in the Department of Community Health budget bills.  Also contact Governor Rick Snyder to express your opposition to the OSA cuts.

Senator Roger Kahn, M.D.                 senrkahn@senate.mi.gov                   866-305-2132
Representative Chuck Moss  chuckmoss@house.mi.gov                877-707-6677
Governor Rick Snyder                       Rick.Snyder@michigan.gov

Here are some talking points:

  • OSA services prevent seniors from going on Medicaid.

  • OSA services are extremely cost-effective.  The average annual cost of OSA services (meals-on-wheels and home care) was $1,000 in FY 2010.  In contrast, a nursing home cost an average of $68,000.

  • There are over 6,000 seniors on waiting lists for OSA services like meals and home care.

    Seniors Helping Seniors is located in Grand Rapids, MI serving the senior community with a wide range of services including companion care, respite, Alzheimer's care, handyman services, housecleaning, meal preparation, personal grooming and more. Our mission is to help seniors maintain their independence in their own home for as long as possible with the dignity and respect they deserve by matching them up with other healthy, active seniors who want to help. We serve the elderly in the greater Grand Rapids area and throughout West Michigan. Call Seniors Helping Seniors today to learn more 616-234-0190.

Monday, April 18, 2011

More Wellness Expo's!

Seniors Helping Seniors In-Home Services just registered at 2 more events.....

Stop by to say "hi", pick up some information to share and learn more about the loving, caring and compassionate services that Seniors Helping Seniors provides across the greater Grand Rapids area for the elderly in our communities. Our services include companion care, respite, Alzheimer's and Dementia Care, handyman services, transportation, housekeeping, meal preparation, yard work and more.

Visit us at the Aurora Pond Wellness Expo on Wednesday April 20th from 10AM to 2PM in Wyoming.

Also see us at the Turning the Page Health and Wellness Expo 2011 at Calvary Church - 707 East Beltline on Thursday April 28th from noon - 6PM.

Tell a friend, bring a friend, and learn more about Seniors Helping Seniors Home Care services for seniors by seniors! Like getting a little help from your friendsTM