Care for the elderly can be complicated if there are issues that impact one’s ability to care for themselves or their home. While assisted living facilities are one solution, many seniors want to stay in their own homes as long as they can. Local company CareAparent is helping families see how in-home care can be both an affordable and cost-effective way to help seniors maintain their independence.
CareAparent was started in 2015 by Woodbury resident Dennis Todora and his sister-in-law, Lisa Lofquist. The two recognized the growing demand for quality and flexible in-home care for seniors. “The Minnesota Department of Human Services did a study in 2010 with predictions about the growth,” Lofquist says.
“By 2030, one in four people will be over the age of 65. By 2050, one in four people will be over the age of 85. Of that number, 50 percent will have Alzheimer’s. We have a growing need that’s accelerating.”
As a state licensed in-home care service agency, CareAparent offers non-medical services such as personal care, companion care, transportation, medication reminders, housekeeping, laundry services and nutritious meal planning and preparation. All employees are bonded, insured and background checked.
"We get on average between 10-to-20 referrals a month for clients. And we don’t advertise,” Todora says. CareAparent is a vendor of the Veterans Administration and collaborates with Care Options Network, the Senior Linkage Line, HealthEast, Allina and other organizations in providing unique and alternative solutions of care for family members and their parents throughout the Twin Cities.
“CareAparent works with clients and families to get the right services in place,” says Lofquist, who explains that clients go through a comprehensive assessment to determine needs. A custom service plan is created as a starting point, and rates are based on number of hours needed.
“We have the flexibility to design a plan that is effective, that works and that takes the burden off the caregivers that are there,” Lofquist says. “If there is no one to help the person, we find out what they need, and we create the service plan based on the needs of the client first and family.”
When Bonnie Morphew was caring for her terminally ill father who had also recently lost his wife, she hired CareAparent to provide companionship that was needed. “When we were working or couldn’t be there, he was alone and got very depressed,” Morphew says. “CareAparent was able to help with all the time in-between when we couldn’t care for my dad. Their hearts are so big and they make it very easy.”
Even if you’re not ready to hire an agency, CareAparent offers a service to help your family. “We’ll collaborate with you and have you put in our technology to schedule your family for caregiving, and then we can be a back-up to your family. We call that Family Share Care,” Todora says. “It takes more management to accommodate on our end, but what we do is focus on recruiting and hiring caregivers who say one day a week would be fine for them.”
The organization employs caregivers as well as a handful of administrative staff, and they are always recruiting. The opportunity works well for stay-at-home parents with school age children as well as people who are recently retired, to visit, assist and be wonderful companions to seniors, while getting paid. “It’s kind of like paid volunteerism,” Todora says. “We recruit people like us, who want to love and serve people.”
