Seniors Helping Seniors(R) In-Home Services Establishes Franchise to Serve Eastern Montgomery County in Pennsylvania

By: Seniors Helping Seniors | 11 Shares 162 Reads

January 14, 2009 // Franchising.com // Wyomissing Hills, Pa.-- To help meet the growing demand of older Pennsylvanians who want to remain in their own homes and stay as self-sufficient as possible, Seniors Helping Seniors® In-Home Services (SHS) has established a new franchise to serve eastern Montgomery County in Pennsylvania including the communities of Hatboro, Lower Merion, Jenkintown, Abington, Huntington Valley and the Main Line.

Seniors Helping Seniors--which has five regional owners and some 50 franchise partners in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, New York, Ohio, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Michigan, Florida, Washington and California--is a national caregiver and companionship organization and the only one that matches seniors who need non-medical in-home care services with seniors who provide them.

The newest franchise is owned and operated by Judy Hall, Penn Valley, Pa., who has 36 years of nursing experience, much of it working with and caring for seniors. She also owned and operated her own home healthcare agency—Independent Health Care—for nearly 10 years, serving clients in Philadelphia and Bucks County.

Hall graduated from Pennsylvania Hospital's School of Nursing, Philadelphia, and received a BS in Nursing from LaSalle University, Philadelphia.

She decided to join the Seniors Helping Seniors family because she has enjoyed talking to elders all of her life. "The wealth of knowledge that our older generation holds is amazing. I loved those conversations first with my grandmother and grandfather at a young age about their lives and the old country and then later, with my patients about what they had experienced in their lifetimes.

"At every opportunity I would encourage them to tell me more! So many times I wish that I had gotten some of those conversations on tape so I could remember every word they said," she continued.

Another reason she began looking for another nursing, home-based business opportunity was that she felt her nursing career was less satisfying due to insurance issues and business aspects. "There was no time for the contact that I loved so much. I began a journey of self-reflection and self-awareness, which eventually led me to begin my holistic nursing training and next to Seniors Helping Seniors about a year ago.

"The more I learned the more I wanted to be a part of this caring and compassionate community. I felt that working with Seniors Helping Seniors I could make a difference again in the lives that I touch. I knew that I was where I needed to be," said Hall.

Sharon Santoni, Seniors Helping Seniors' regional owner for eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, said she is pleased to welcome Hall as a franchise partner. "Judy comes to our Seniors Helping Seniors community with many years of nursing and healthcare experience and a deep personal knowledge about what it means to be a caregiver to seniors. She will make an excellent franchise partner, one who is dedicated to providing the Seniors Helping Seniors brand of loving, giving, caring and compassionate service. I am looking forward to working with Judy and I have no doubt that she will fulfill the Seniors Helping Seniors' mission in eastern Montgomery County and Pennsylvania."

Added Hall, "I want to use my experience and give back to my community--Eastern Montgomery County-- in a way that promotes independence and gives seniors the assistance that they need to remain active and involved. This truly is a way to give and receive! My grandmother would be proud."

Philip Yocom, and his wife, Kiran Yocom, co-founded Seniors Helping Seniors In-Home Services (SHS), which began as a non-profit organization serving Reading and Berks County, Pennsylvania. That first non-profit organization today encompasses more than 250 senior providers helping more than 600 senior receivers. In 2007, the non-profit Seniors Helping Seniors provided nearly 17,000 hours of service.

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 said, "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."

"We support all of our franchises with all of the expertise we have gained in running Seniors Helping Seniors. We also provide marketing, sales, management, and technology support."

He added, "We believe we have found a practical, cost-effective way to help seniors remain independent and to continue contributing. As we grow nationwide, we remain committed to providing our brand of loving, giving, caring, compassionate service."