Every Monday morning, Bob DeBlauw drinks coffee, eats melon and does a crossword puzzle with his friend and caregiver Barb Harsh.
“It’s a wonderful time to spend together and I think she enjoys it, too,” he said. “She’s kind of new to crossword puzzles, but she’s picking up very quickly.”
Since the fall of 2021, Harsh has been DeBlauw’s caregiver through Senior Helpers, a nationwide in-home senior care provider.
On Dec. 5, a new branch of the company opened its doors in Littleton. The new location will serve clients in Littleton, Centennial, Southglenn, Lone Tree, Highlands Ranch and Columbine, according to its website.
Senior Helpers offers several different levels of care based on a person’s needs, according to Littleton franchisee Peter Hjelmstad, who grew up in the city and attended Arapahoe High School.
In companion care services, for example, a caregiver spends time with a person and helps with household activities. In personal care services, caregivers offer personal hygiene and mobility assistance.
Hjelmstad said the company also offers specialty packages for Alzheimer’s and dementia, Parkinson’s and other chronic diseases.
“(The services are) for people that need help maintaining their independence at home,” Hjelmstad said. “What we really do is allow people to stay where they want to be longer.”
For DeBlauw, Harsh’s care and companionship has made a big difference in his life since his wife passed away in September 2021.
“It’s very comforting and it’s very helpful. It provides a relief for me to have company, for one thing,” he said. “And then secondly, to have someone who can maintain some of the household chores that need to be taken care of here.”
When the Littleton location opened, a handful of clients including DeBaluw were transferred from the Fort Collins location.
“Nothing is changing for them, other than, you know, they’re now being locally managed rather than from afar,” Hjelmstad said. “So we’re able to better service them because we’re right here next to them.”
Hjelmstad said his branch is actively recruiting more caregivers and looking for more clients.
For Harsh, who worked in the health care industry for 40 years, caregiving is a great fit.
As a senior herself, she does light housekeeping, cooking, runs errands, laundry, takes clients shopping and to appointments and spends quality time with them.
“The neat thing about that is, is being able to tell other people my age,” she said. “You’re still employable, there are things you can do within your own limitations.”
Harsh said being a senior helps her to be a better caregiver.
“I relate to the challenges that my clients have as far as aging goes. It’s like I share the same aches and pains,” she said. “I think the biggest thing that I’ve got going is patience because these are my people – I’m one of them.”
As the Senior Helpers of Littleton kicks off, Hjelmstad said he hopes it will give back to the community that helped raise him.
“We have deep roots here and really care about the people that that we’re taking care of,” he said. “It’s meaningful to us because they’re our friends and our neighbors and our families that we’re caring for.”
Interested individuals can learn more about jobs and services at the Senior Helpers of Littleton website, https://www.seniorhelpers.com/co/littleton/.
In addition to Littleton, Senior Helpers has locations in Greeley, Fort Collins, Parker and Northglenn to serve Colorado’s aging communities.
Keywords
caregiving, senior care near me, Senior Helpers, Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s
