Seniors Heping Seniors Opens in La Mesa

Seniors Helping Seniors San Diego (SHS) is expanding its service network into Coronado, allowing seniors the ability to choose an independent lifestyle in their own homes by providing an array of services from other caring seniors in order to maintain their desired level of independence.

“Our expansion will provide additional care options for seniors, flexible employment opportunities for seniors who still want to work, and peace of mind for the adult children of seniors who often struggle to balance their parents’ needs with their own day-to-day life commitments,” said Sue Erskine, SHS co-owner.

Erskine explains that SHS clients find working with other seniors to be more comfortable because they understand and appreciate the challenges of remaining independent. “Our care providers know from their own experiences how best to assist seniors to manage a variety of non-medical tasks. Additionally, our services often are more cost-effective as they are designed to address each client’s individual needs versus charging for a standard minimum amount of time.” 

Services provided include companion care, light housekeeping, personal care, transportation, over-night supervision, 24-hour care, house maintenance and small repairs and yard work. In most cases the care is provided in the senior’s own home; however, occasionally the client may reside with a relative or live in an assisted living community or other group living setting and services can be provide there.

Erskine, said was her father’s need for assistance that brought Erskine and her co-owners, her daughter Tricia Izadi and sister Doris Dorey (who operates SHS in NJ) together to launch their SHS enterprise.

“Our father was an active, successful businessman who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in his mid-70s. As his illness progressed, we experienced first-hand the challenges and rewards of being caregivers while providing respite for our stepmother who lovingly cared for him at home,” Erskine explained. “He had two wonderful senior caregivers who became his friends and provided the support that allowed our father to continue the activities that made him happy, including golf and walking, despite his cognitive issues. Bringing seniors who need help together with seniors who want to provide care and assistance is the cornerstone for SHS success.”

Each care provider undergoes a thorough background investigation by an independent company specializing in these services to help ensure the safety and welfare of each SHS client. “We want our clients, their spouses or companions, and their adult children to have the same sense of trust we had with the caregivers who worked with my grandfather,” Izadi said.

For seniors seeking flexible, part-time employment opportunities, SHS provides more than just rewarding work and financial benefits. Numerous studies show that continuing to work beyond the traditional age of retirement improves the physical and mental health of the workers, in some cases making them more vigorous than those who enter full retirement. Extra income also helps a senior extend their retirement savings.

For more information, contact Seniors Helping Seniors at 619-346-4535 or at www.seniorshelpingseniors.com/sandiego