Seniors Helping Seniors®In-Home Services Establishes Latest Franchise at Charlotte, North Carolina
Wyomissing Hills, Pa - To help meet the growing demand of older North Carolinians 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 at Charlotte, North Carolina, that will cover Mint Hill, Matthews, Harrisburg and parts of South Charlotte. Seniors Helping Seniors--which has five master license holders and some 50 franchise territories in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Florida, Michigan and California--is a national caregiver and companionship organization and the only one that matches seniors who need in-home care services with seniors who provide them. Seniors Helping Seniors also has franchises serving Raleigh and Jacksonville, N.C.
The newest franchise is owned and operated by Sharon Mayfield of Mint Hill, N.C., who has worked more than 30 years as a Registered Nurse with experience in long-term care, emergency care and education, and who is a certified Assisted Living Administrator and Preceptor.
She is currently employed in the Referral Center of the Hospice and Palliative Care Charlotte Region, whose mission is to relieve suffering and improve the quality and dignity of life through compassionate hospice care for those at the end of life, palliative care for those with advanced illness, and through community education. She is a past member of the board of directors for the North Carolina Assisted Living Association and chaired its latest educational conference and trade show.
Mayfield also has worked for the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte, serving seniors. She was the co-developer of Charlotte's Little Flower Assisted Living Community and served as its nurse and administrator and was director of Operations for homes in three states run by Hunt Assisted Living.
She attended the Ohio Valley General Hospital School of Nursing, Pittsburgh, Pa., and received her BS in nursing from West Liberty State College, West Liberty, W. Va.
She found a Seniors Helping Seniors franchise appealing because seniors have many needs outside of healthcare that impact on their lives and well-being. "I have had much experience training caregivers over the years and often note that they have little in common with seniors they are assisting or their life experiences. Not only am I a senior myself, but also I believe it is better that seniors rely on other seniors. That's what's unique about Seniors Helping Seniors," she said.
"The services that Seniors Helping Seniors provides may look like the 'cherry on the sundae,' but I have learned that a senior can suffer from more things than poor health. Lack of companionship or loss of things loved--like a beautiful garden--often 'kills' seniors a little bit every day. When seniors have to leave what they love, including their home, their life expectancy is shortened. In today's society with seniors living longer and their adult children busy working or raising children themselves, there is a void in finding these services that are essential to the soul, " she said.
Philip Yocom, who manages the national Seniors Helping Seniors franchise organization, said he is pleased to welcome Sharon Mayfield as a franchise partner. "Sharon comes to our Seniors Helping Seniors community with many years of nursing and management experience and a deeply personal knowledge about what it means to be a caregiver for seniors. She will make an excellent addition to our franchise family, people who are dedicated to providing the Seniors Helping Seniors brand of loving, giving, caring and compassionate service and who will fulfill our mission in further expanding our care giving and companionship services within North Carolina," he said.
"I want my franchise to be the most trusted provider of non-medical care to assist Charlotte seniors with the things that are important in their life--from companionship to home repair and gardening.
"I was an independent developer and operator of a very successful assisted living facility, but I was always worried that if something happened to me, what would happen to the residents? The Seniors Helping Seniors family allows me the freedom to run my own business with the benefit of their experience and the back up they provide to insure that excellent care will continue," she added.
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 any future franchises to be the first place that seniors in need of non-medical services and those seeking extra income call."
"We will support all our franchisees with all of the expertise we have gained in running Seniors Helping Seniors. We'll 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."
