December 12, 2025 • 58 mins
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A safer home shouldn’t look clinical, and it shouldn’t wait until after a fall. We invited Rick Thaxton and Dennis Lippy of Accessible Living Atlanta to share how they build beautiful, practical spaces that protect independence at any age, and why designing for caregivers is just as critical as designing for the person receiving care. From modern grab bars that blend into your bathroom to ceiling lifts that prevent back injuries, we walk through the upgrades that matter most and the small, low-cost steps that deliver outsized safety: better lighting, continuous handrails, decluttering, and zero-entry showers placed and sized for real bodies and real routines.
We also dig into the logistics families face. Zoning and ADUs for multigenerational homes, vertical platform lifts when ramps won’t fit, stacked closets that future-proof townhomes for elevators, and the funding landscape that too often surprises people, because Medicare doesn’t pay for home modifications. Rick and Dennis share how to tap VA benefits, state Medicaid waivers, and condition-specific grants, plus why it pays to involve an occupational therapist to align body mechanics with the built environment. The takeaway is clear: plan early, personalize to the home and the person, and build with aesthetics in mind so accessibility boosts resale instead of harming it.
Technology helps but isn’t a silver bullet, especially for bathroom falls, so layering solutions is key: non-slip surfaces, reachable controls, motion lighting, and thoughtful layouts that minimize transfers. Whether you’re supporting a parent, living with a progressive condition, or simply want a future-ready space, this conversation offers a practical roadmap to safer, smarter living. If this episode sparks ideas, share it with a friend, subscribe for more expert conversations, and leave a review to tell us which home upgrade you’ll tackle first.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:32):
Well, I want to welcome everybody to the
podcast.
Thank you so much for coming.
Today we have two amazing folkswho are working to make the
Atlanta area, Atlanta, Georgiaarea, safer for older adults.
They are with um alatlanta.com.
(00:52):
If you want to visit theirwebsite, they have a beautiful
website.
It's Accessible Living Atlanta.
And we've got Rick Thaxton here.
And we've got Dennis, what'syour last name?
SPEAKER_03 (01:05):
Lippy.
L-I-P-P-Y.
SPEAKER_00 (01:07):
Dennis Lippy as well.
So they are going to tell us alittle bit about who they are,
what they are, and what they do.
And thank you, boys.
Thank you guys so much forcoming.
SPEAKER_03 (01:19):
So we really appreciate the opportunity to be
here.
We ran across a uh uh friend ofmine who was with the Atlanta
Regional Commission, and she wastelling us about this CAPS
program.
So we went ahead and I got CAPScertified in 05, uh 06.
(01:42):
I was one of the first ones.
So CAFS is certified agent inplace specialists.
We thought we'd get calls justto go install grab bars and and
uh so we we kind of went downthat road.
We were thinking we were goingto do a lot of aging in place,
and we would go and do thesepresentations and all everybody
be ready to age in place, buteverybody looks at it
(02:06):
reactionary, yes, you knowthat's a nice idea, but I don't
need that right now.
So so that kind of went away,and then and and then but we
kept on applying ourselves, andand we would go to senior uh
provider network niches, that'swhere little networks were the
people in the industry, and wewould go to Gwynette and DeCab
(02:28):
and different ones, and weslowly started getting more into
the uh of uh accessibility, andalso we found out that
accessibility there's nodiscrimination on age.
It happens, you know.
We did a uh home modificationfor a six-year-old board
cerebral pausing.
We do a lot with disabilitytrust, well, and we do a lot
(02:51):
with aging in place, but rightnow it's it's it's the people
who want to stay in their houseand are programmed enough to
understand that to do that theygot to make the modifications,
right?
So um, so yeah, I've been uh wehad another company and and uh
and sold that in 2019, and Ithink Rick started with me, was
(03:14):
at 2010.
SPEAKER_02 (03:15):
2010, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (03:16):
2010.
And uh Rick's been handling ourmarketing, uh doing a great job,
and and and he understands youknow, we for a little while
there we took him out ofmarketing and had him kind of in
sales, and that didn't work outgreat, but we understood that
the phone stopped ringing, andRick learned a lot more about
accessibility.
(03:38):
And through the years, we've uhI've gotten a certification for
CAC, C E A C It's CertifiedEnvironmental Uh Specialist,
Environmental Consultant, uh,which are both kind of good
areas if if people recognize it,it gives us a little bit more
training, but a lot of ourtraining's been on the job,
(04:01):
right?
Um, you know, through the years,we uh do ceiling lifts, we
partner with people, doelevators.
Um so that's that's kind of thethe evolution, and I'm gonna let
Rick share any tidbits that thathe would like to.
SPEAKER_02 (04:17):
Yeah, I I actually uh uh met Dennis while I was
working with a place for mom.
Are you familiar with a placefor mom, Esther?
SPEAKER_00 (04:28):
Yeah, of course.
SPEAKER_02 (04:29):
Yeah, uh back then a place for mom sort of um uh had
a monopoly on that industry inthe in the meantime, there's
been a quite a number ofcompanies uh in the Atlanta area
that's opening up this, which isgood to provide some
competition.
But I met Dennis and uh kind ofuh uh evolved away from a place
(04:50):
for mom, and we got together in2010, and I worked with him for
10 years until 2020, and hementioned about selling the
company, and at that point uh Ileft when he sold the company,
and then he called me back aboutI guess it's almost three years
ago, right, Dennis?
Yeah, yeah, three years ago.
(05:13):
Yeah, yeah.
So he called me back and saidI'd like to well, I'd like to do
some some marketing, work fromhome, and that sounded
wonderful.
So uh so I got back into workwith him and didn't it really
hasn't I haven't missed thebeat.
It's just been really fun umseeing the industry evolve from
(05:35):
2010 to 15 years uh now and seeseeing what what all is
happening to it and how uh thegrowth is taking place and just
we've we've uh been able tobenefit from a uh a lot of
different um agencies that we'vebecome uh uh affiliated with.
(05:57):
And I think the the business uhuh Dennis would would would
agree that the business has hasgotten it's really peaked, not
even not peaked, but it's reallygrown to a point now where uh
we've had um uh a lot ofincrease in in our volume since
uh those days.
SPEAKER_00 (06:20):
Yeah, I mean 10,000 people a day turning 65 until
2030, and then the nextgeneration takes over.
So obviously the market isthere, but you know, what Dennis
said was is so true is that whenyou walk in and you present
these products or thesemodifications that can help
someone to live independentlylonger, it's emotional.
(06:44):
And then that barrier, you know,comes up.
No, no, I don't need that yet,you know, I don't need that yet.
Um and it's it's difficult, youknow.
Then, you know, do you continueworking or you do you continue
trying to market to them, or nowdo you market to the family
caregivers, or do you market toboth?
And how do you, you know, how doyou get past that?
(07:05):
And beyond emotional, it's alsofinancial, you know, there's
that issue as well.
But I think that that's the thebiggest block in, but so I like
the idea of instead of callingit aging in place, it's calling
it a accessible living.
Yeah, because you're you'reright.
Now one, you're going for alarger target market, but also
(07:28):
it doesn't sound so old, likeyou're getting old.
No one wants to believe thatthey're getting older.
SPEAKER_03 (07:35):
Um when we first got started, sorry, Rick, we first
got started.
Um we did my office manager'smom's home, and she was kind of
left over from the depressionera.
SPEAKER_00 (07:48):
No, okay.
SPEAKER_03 (07:49):
She had sliding doors and she didn't want to do
that, she didn't want to grabbars, but we went ahead and took
the sliding door out and put ina curtain, made it more
functional in a grab bar, andshe said, God, I should have
done this years ago.
SPEAKER_00 (08:02):
I know, right?
Once it's done, you get thatsaving.
Should have done it years ago.
SPEAKER_03 (08:07):
It is, it is.
It's amazing, just uh a littlebit of tweaking.
I know, and uh, you know, it's alife safety issue.
SPEAKER_02 (08:15):
Well, I think well uh Dennis, what you had uh said
a few minutes ago about when youstarted the business in 05, uh
you thought it was going toreally evolve around the senior
industry, which which we do havea good percentage of our total
business, but uh we've learnedthat through uh being associated
(08:38):
with um muscular dystrophy andum uh at uh at every age,
really, uh being affected bythings like cerebral palsy, um,
and of course accidents uh playa huge role.
We get we get a number ofreferrals every year from
(08:59):
Shepherd Center, uh, where someyoung kid or a teenager or
doesn't well our our clientshave no age boundaries.
It really goes all across uhdifferent ages and different
needs.
And that's what's so neat abouthome accessibility is uh when
(09:20):
dentist goes out to visit, uheach home is tailored to suit
the specific needs of thatperson or that family.
SPEAKER_00 (09:30):
And that's amazing because I mean, honestly, some
of the same products andmodifications that you make for
someone who's 10, you know,because of cerebral palsy or
whatever, could alsoaccommodate, you know, an older
adult because of whatever youknow they have going on.
Um the modifications can be thesame.
(09:51):
Um, you know, just the the sizeof the the products will be
different, but still you'reyou're not looking at the
illness or disease or uh injury,you know, you're looking at the
capabilities of what the personcan do, and how can you make
them more independent?
I mean, isn't that whateverybody wants to be more
independent?
SPEAKER_03 (10:11):
Yes, independence, and also we really try to make
sure the caregivers are safe,you know, just as much emphasis
on the client as the caregiver,also.
There, you know, the caregivergoes down, it's usually the
spouse or the parent, they godown, you know, you got
problems.
That's right.
You know, their back goes out,so a lot of times we'll just do
(10:32):
a ceiling lift over the bed,right?
Smart pick them up and take themover to a shower chair and and
and um set them down.
But uh yeah, it and also there'sa good market out there, a lot
of people looking for accessiblehomes.
SPEAKER_00 (10:46):
Exactly.
Yeah, exactly.
I wish that home builders, youknow, I know here in Atlanta,
uh, you know, the majority ofhomes are two and three stories.
It's almost impossible to findanything that's one story.
Um, and you know, and has a zeroentryway, you know, into the
home.
And I wish um more builderswould um get on board, but you
(11:09):
know, maybe eventually, maybeeventually.
The the other thing I thinkthat's happening in in senior
care or in seniors is thatbecause people are living
longer, you know, with medicmedicine and everything, it's to
the point that what I'm seeingis seniors are caring for
seniors.
You know, my mom-in-law lived to102 and her children were in
(11:33):
their 70s, so they were caringfor her, you know.
Um, and it's they have their ownmedical issues on top of caring
for her medical issues.
So you're right, making the homeaccessible not just for the
person, but for the caregiver aswell, is very important.
SPEAKER_02 (11:51):
Along along with that same thought, Esther,
there's a lot ofmulti-generational living today
where uh either uh adultchildren move in uh to their
parents or vice versa.
Right.
Uh so in that regard, we end upuh often doing a uh an addition,
(12:11):
or either if they've got abasement, we'll go do like a
mother-in-law suite in in thebasement.
But there we've we've seen atremendous growth in that type
of thing across the years.
SPEAKER_00 (12:25):
What are the what are the zoning laws here?
And is it county by county asfar as putting in a granny pod
or you know whatever they call atiny home in the backyard?
SPEAKER_03 (12:35):
Can can we Yeah, there's uh jurisdiction issues
and uh they call them ADUaccessory dwelling units.
SPEAKER_00 (12:42):
That's right.
SPEAKER_03 (12:42):
And I I do work with uh uh bankers or who's who's
really into the zoning and andkeep pulling everything
together.
That's kind of she doesmortgage, but she does a lot of
adus.
In fact, I'm doing a CEU withher this week, but you know, it
might end up being where you'vegot an ADU attached to your
house, but the jurisdiction'snot gonna let you call it.
(13:04):
But if you call it an addition,it's okay.
You know, so yeah, uh it's it'sa matter of uh uh finding out a
lot of cities are getting to bemore receptive to the ideas
because of the space issue.
SPEAKER_00 (13:19):
Yeah, especially here.
We have beautiful big yards,most of the houses here, and you
know, you can easily accommodatethat and it it gives you that
independence at the same time,you know, um you've got somebody
there close by that can, youknow, help if you if you need
it.
And that that doesn'tnecessarily have to be for older
adults, it could be for you knowuh a child with a disability
(13:42):
that becomes a teenager and theycan have their own space, you
know.
It's um yeah.
What do you think?
What do you guys think is thatthe top three modifications that
most homes need that you seewhen you go out there and you
take a look around?
SPEAKER_03 (13:59):
I think the initial one is grab bars, yeah.
You know, and and they're reallycoming out with nice looking
grab bars so that it doesn'tlook institutional, the round
ones.
They got some really decorativetoilet paper grab bars, uh, soap
dish grab bars, regular grabbars, and and we use an anchor
(14:19):
where we don't have to findstuds, we can put it exactly
where the client needs it.
You know, a petite 90-year-oldis going to be different from a
six foot seven, threehundred-pound guy, right?
And we found these same anchorswill work in a uh for bariatrics
and they old flimsy fiberglassshowers.
SPEAKER_00 (14:40):
So they're how much weight does that hold?
SPEAKER_03 (14:44):
Uh, this one we just installed, it was 800 pounds.
SPEAKER_00 (14:47):
Wow, okay.
SPEAKER_03 (14:49):
So, you know, the technology is getting better.
And uh uh the the grab bars, youknow, they have towel bar grab
bars, which you really wouldn'tuse to pull yourself up, but
it's it's for balance, you know,as you're walking down, you can
hold it.
So they're they're really uhgetting away from the
institutional look.
Right.
(15:09):
They're not quite there yet, butyou know, all of our um zero
entry showers, they we want youto walk in every morning and go,
huh.
Right.
This is this is nice.
SPEAKER_00 (15:22):
Right.
SPEAKER_03 (15:22):
So uh, you know, there's a lot of major
inferences.
There's grab bars, and a lot oftimes we'll like we like to push
lighting.
People get up in the middle ofthe night and you know they're
walking around stumbling around.
But if you put in a little nightlight, you can pick them up
anywhere, a motion detector.
If you got a cat, the batteriesmight go pretty uh quick, but
(15:44):
you know, the lights in thehallway and the stairwells are
are great.
Um and then um just making sureyou got good handrails going
down the steps, going outside,you know, make it just kind of
what it's life safety issues.
I need to grab this, don't besilly.
(16:05):
Well, I got this great, youknow, this bag of groceries,
thinking I've got everythingunder control.
So, you know, those are kind ofthe big three that we look at.
There's different grab bars, uh,there's fold-down grab bars in
between the toilet and the sinkwhere notoriously there's no way
to put it.
So Healthcraft has a thing theycall PT rails.
(16:27):
And so, you know, watch out forrugs.
Uh, rugs are great trippinghazards.
SPEAKER_00 (16:33):
Yeah, I recommend the uh vinyl rugs.
I um if you have to have a rug,I like the vinyl rugs.
I have, I don't know if you cansee it behind the door back
there.
And what I like about it is thatthey're extremely thin, they're
non-slip, uh, they're easy toclean, especially if you have
pets.
Um, and it's a way to have thataesthetic of a rug without the
(16:56):
danger of possibly tripping overit or it folding over or having
to bend down and clean it, youknow, if somebody did some, even
those ruggables that you canwash, you still have to fold
them up and pick them up anddrag them to the washing
machine.
So the vinyl rugs I I alwaysrecommend.
And I love that you talk aboutlighting, because I think that
(17:18):
is one of the most underused umyou know, modifications.
A lot of people just don't thinkof lighting and they don't think
of how some lights cause cast ashadow.
unknown (17:30):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (17:31):
And shadows can be very disruptive for um, I mean,
I remember having some patients,we'd be walking down the hall of
the hospital and they would walkaround a shadow of uh, you know,
on the floor thinking that itwas a hole or something.
So they couldn't determine onefrom you know, I worked in head
injury, so they just theperception wasn't wasn't there.
(17:54):
So that is very important to uhto get I'm so glad you talked
about later.
SPEAKER_03 (17:59):
There's uh uh somebody tell me with the
patient with Alzheimer's, acouple things they would do is
they would put a picture of abookshelf on the back of a door
so they wouldn't went over thedoor, or they get a big old
black rug in front of the doorand they think it's a hole.
SPEAKER_00 (18:16):
Yeah, they think it's a stay away from it.
SPEAKER_03 (18:18):
Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_00 (18:19):
They stay away from it, and now they even have these
um, it looks like wallpaper orsomething, but you can put it on
the door that looks like abookshelf or a window or
something.
Yeah, there's all kinds of theselittle little tricks, and that's
great.
I mean, that's personalizing themodification to the person at
the moment, because you know,obviously Alzheimer's, yeah, it
(18:42):
is a at the moment typesituation.
At the moment.
So how difficult is it for youguys for you guys to um that
Brooklyn and me is coming out?
How difficult is it for you guysto convince people to um to take
the next step?
Or do you find it difficult?
(19:04):
Um, or how how do you how do youhandle that?
When you walk into someone'shome, obvious that things have
to be changed, but they're like,nah, nah, not yet.
SPEAKER_03 (19:14):
Yeah, well, it all depends on what level we're we
hit them.
You know, uh for the people whowere uh they're gonna modify,
they're gonna do renovations,you know, then they'll start
talking about what will work.
Um some of the ALS patients wework with, it's it's a short
(19:34):
term.
So sometimes just trying totrying to make a second floor
won't work out.
And then you know, then we tryto come up with as other
alternatives.
Um they're not as you know,majority of the times we get
there and they're looking forthe solution.
Good.
You know, you know, it might endup being where we uh they don't
(19:55):
like the colors or they they'renot real tickled about it, but
we we try to make it where thewe don't make the shower, the
bathroom bigger than its itswalls right now.
SPEAKER_01 (20:07):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (20:08):
So uh we don't like to we say, you know, if you're
gonna make modifications, we ifyou're planning on staying here
and going out feet first, youknow, that's one thing.
But but even if you uh if youthink you're gonna be here for a
while, you don't want to spendmoney to put it back for
(20:28):
sellable.
You know, if you take a closet,you know, you that closet's
gone.
SPEAKER_00 (20:32):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (20:33):
You know, out of a bathroom.
So to really kind of think aboutwhat we're gonna do.
A lot of them ramps.
We try to really say we reallylike to have a ramp and a garage
just for inclement weather andand uh you know that's a big
argument.
I'm gonna lose a car space.
unknown (20:52):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (20:53):
Yeah, but you're not going outside in the rain.
Well, we won't be driving in therain, but you know, quit quit
argue with it, you know.
You know, it does it's notgreat, but uh, you know, we
really don't like it to beoutside.
Sometimes you gotta fight withHOA and and but the big thing is
the weather, you know.
Um after a little while they'llcome down to it and there's
(21:16):
other solutions.
SPEAKER_00 (21:18):
But yeah, platform lift maybe.
SPEAKER_03 (21:21):
Correct, a vertical platform lift works, you know,
and a lot of times it's kind offunny where they would have a
conversation with their kids,and the kids would tell them one
thing and they they're theyfight it.
I get in, I say the same thing.
Great idea.
SPEAKER_00 (21:41):
It's like when the doctor party relief, whatever
the doctor says is right, eventhough it's the same thing the
families, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (21:49):
Did y'all miss me?
Yes, we did.
We had a we had a power outage,a power outage to uh here, and
uh so I lost everything,including my internet, but I'm
but I'm back.
SPEAKER_03 (22:03):
I'm glad you're back.
Glad you're here.
Um we were just talking aboutany uh um times we come across
and the and the people are kindof balking about making the
changes, but still it's it's oneof the things it's kind of
funny.
Once we get out of thedepression era age group,
they're a little bit morereceptive.
(22:24):
Okay, you know, they they Istill don't want that grab bar,
but I'll take it.
SPEAKER_00 (22:29):
Right, right.
You know, hopefully becausethey've been hearing, you know,
information about it, they'remore educated about it, and
maybe they've even seen theirum, you know, aging parents or
grandparents or whatever gothrough it and they're like, no.
SPEAKER_03 (22:46):
Yeah, that or they've gone to your neighbor's
house or friend's house and andsaw it works.
SPEAKER_00 (22:51):
Right.
They saw that it works.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (22:53):
I think a lot of times too, they're adult
children, uh, depending on whattype of uh subtle pressure that
they put upon the parent to,hey, you need to you need to do
this, or there's have to have tobe some significant change like
moving out of your home.
So that that also that that typeof threat can all uh can
(23:16):
oftentimes get someone leaningin the direction of staying at
home uh with modifications.
SPEAKER_03 (23:23):
Well, and a lot of times I'm brought in to to
evaluate it to where all right,these modifications are gonna
cost this much.
Do we move or do we stay?
You know, and sometimes I'mcalled in before they buy a
house if they've already got thechallenge or it's a progressive.
Will this house work?
You know, what's it gonna costto to make it work?
(23:44):
And you know, uh uh girl calledme and and she's got a
progressive disease and got anice uh shower, but it's got a
curve.
And and I can't do anything withit except remodel the whole
bathroom, you know.
But had we talked about itbefore, we could have, you know,
had possibilities.
SPEAKER_00 (24:04):
So um when it comes to the money, when it comes to
the cost, what kind of do youwork with other like do you work
with reverse mortgage people orpeople with grants or anything
like that, or do you rely juston the homeowner to um pay for
it?
SPEAKER_03 (24:20):
Um sometimes the VA and Rick ch chime in, uh the VA
has some some help.
Um Atlanta Regional Commissionmight have some sources, uh
FODAC, Friends of DisabledAdults and Children, but
majority of the time it isprivate pay.
SPEAKER_00 (24:36):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (24:37):
Yeah, and that does hurt, um, especially with an
ALS, you know, where that's whywe try to emphasize return on
the investment.
SPEAKER_02 (24:45):
Right.
You know, uh, you know, I'veI've talked to people over the
years, uh, and people stillthink, even though it's been
going on, home homemodification's been going on for
many, many years, people stillthink Medicare pays for home
modification.
And it's a big shock to them tofind out that it doesn't.
SPEAKER_00 (25:03):
Right, it doesn't.
It's true.
SPEAKER_02 (25:06):
Yeah, so uh, you know, I mean, we've got uh well,
we send an ebook out to uh folksthat visit our website and give
us their email address, and andwe'll send out information too,
or uh, even sometimes if theyjust need something on the
funding, we send it out withoutwithout an email address.
But there's a lot of localthings that are taking place,
(25:29):
like there's a uh a Downsyndrome clinic that's handled
at Emory School of Medicine.
Uh there's a Spinobifa uhorganization in Atlanta.
There's an autism, it's calledAutism Speaks.
Uh, and of course, these are allchildren, mostly children
related, but those are all basedin Atlanta.
(25:51):
Then there's a Georgia Medicaidwaiver where people who are in
that um financial zone uh of thelower economic where they
qualify for Medicaid, there areprograms where those folks can
get home modification, either atno cost or a greatly reduced
(26:12):
cost.
So that's just a few of many,many options.
I mean, certain organizationshave grants, like Dennis
mentioned.
The ALS has grants, Alzheimer'shas grants.
Um there's a there's anorganization called Disability
Link that's local in Atlanta.
Uh we work with them sometimesabout uh finding funds for
(26:35):
someone.
You know, we we've always triedto uh make a dedicated effort to
not let someone hanging if theydon't have the money, we try
everything we possibly can tohelp them get the funds.
And sometimes we can, andsometimes it just doesn't
(26:55):
happen.
But we always we always go theextra mile trying to make that
you know make that work.
SPEAKER_00 (27:02):
I think that's important because walking in,
you know, if you can be theperson that they call for
whatever, uh you may not do theactual work, you know, you may
not actually provide the fundingor the grant, but you know who
can.
SPEAKER_01 (27:17):
True.
SPEAKER_00 (27:18):
You know, you have the connection so that that way
you become their source.
SPEAKER_02 (27:23):
And that's really so important because one, you're
building trust, and two, you'rebuilding, you know, more
referrals, you know, not onlywe've we've always tried to be
more than a home modificationprovider.
We've tried to become anadvocate for seniors, and due to
the fact we've been doing thisso long, uh, we've really got a
(27:45):
very uh good data database wherewe people call in about certain
things.
We've got people that we canconnect them with.
So that's that I think that doeshelp a lot to let people know
that we're not here just to dohome modifications, we're here
to to help you to find answersfor other things, even though it
(28:06):
may not be directly related towhat we do.
SPEAKER_00 (28:09):
Right.
I think that's awesome.
That's true, full service.
SPEAKER_03 (28:13):
Yes.
Well, also I go out and I telleverybody, you're getting my
opinion, and that's free.
You know, a lot of times, youknow, they they didn't ask to
get into this situation, and Idon't feel comfortable going out
there and charging them, youknow.
But um, and sometimes it workswith me.
Sometimes we might just, youknow, as Rick was saying, point
(28:35):
you in the right direction, tellyou what the equipment is out
there, and this is what we know,and um, but yeah, I don't like
to get too much into a fee forthese little bitty things.
SPEAKER_00 (28:46):
Right.
Yeah, and it's an educatedopinion, it's not just you know,
an opinion.
SPEAKER_03 (28:51):
So you know if I get if I charge you for it, then you
can sue me.
SPEAKER_00 (28:57):
Hopefully that's but you're right.
SPEAKER_03 (28:59):
I mean, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (29:00):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (29:01):
So what I what I know, I'll be glad to share with
you.
SPEAKER_00 (29:05):
So um I you you have obviously contractors, handymen,
whatever in your, you know, theteam that you send out.
How do you train them?
What how do you teach them towork with this population?
SPEAKER_03 (29:21):
They've um they've been with me for years.
Um you know, it's it's the sameidea, but they they they have
compassion for what they'redoing, they understand what
they're doing, and they're notafraid to say, you know, if you
if we do this, it would makethings easier.
So when I go in, I'll draw up abathroom.
(29:42):
Sometimes they get there andsay, well, you know, this could
go this way.
So they understand the problemsuh of the people we're working
with.
SPEAKER_00 (29:50):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (29:50):
So it's uh it's not a uh they're training, there are
carpenters, uh, so it's the theinstallation is not the problem,
it's understanding why and wherewe put it.
SPEAKER_02 (30:02):
I think another another thing, Dennis, is our
people are not handymen by anystretch of nation.
These are these are highly paid,uh very skilled people that that
do have a number of skills.
Um oftentimes they they are uhuh can do electrical work, they
(30:25):
can do tile work.
Uh as Dennis mentioned, they'reall carpenters, but uh the only
time which Uh and correct me ifI'm wrong, Dennis, but we I
guess we would still call in aplumber, especially if we have
to have some plumbing moved.
But if it's a small type ofthing, even our people can do
that, it can do that as well.
But our people, Esther, are allemployees.
(30:48):
We don't we don't work with anyuh subcontractors.
SPEAKER_03 (30:52):
We they'll but but we do we hire out plumbers and
electricians.
Yeah, lately when we get toobusy, we do tile hand out the
tile work.
But okay, they can get in, youknow, a lot of times.
I just had a uh a call from a uha gentleman and um he knew six
months ago his wife was gonnaget out of the hospital, and two
(31:13):
weeks ago he called me on a on aWednesday, she's getting out on
a Friday.
So we had to, you know, all of asudden, you know, we we like to
start a job and have it planned,but you know, all of a sudden we
had to jump.
SPEAKER_00 (31:26):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (31:26):
You know, it's uh it's it's very much of a pain to
do, but we have to get in andget out.
You know, a lot of times peoplethey haven't had a shower in
weeks.
They've been waiting for us toget there, you know, or it's
something they just found us.
So yeah, it's a um thetrade-wise, we we do sub that
(31:46):
out.
Um uh we'll do uh minuteplumbing, but um I don't like to
do that.
SPEAKER_00 (31:54):
Yeah, yeah.
And I mean you're you're right,it does take planning, and when
you have to go in at the lastminute, you may not do it, it
may not be planned out as wellas it could have been, you know.
SPEAKER_03 (32:07):
Uh it really does take time and assessment and
conversation and ordermaterials, and luckily we we
work with an OT, and she wasactually she brought us in.
So when we were doing thedesign, we were able to go back
and forth and and get her, andthen uh she comes in before the
we're finish up and talks aboutthe grab bar location.
(32:30):
So so you know there that thathelps out a lot, but you know,
when we're getting in there,getting out, there's a lot of
not a lot of time to can't ordermaterials in time and and right.
SPEAKER_00 (32:42):
Oh, there you are.
Nice to see you.
SPEAKER_02 (32:49):
I knew if I kept working at it, I could I could
do it.
SPEAKER_00 (32:53):
All right, yeah, I'm so glad that you use an OT.
I mean, the whole mantra of anOT is to modify the environment
to the person.
So this whole home modificationbusiness is just in ingrained in
the the training and theeducation for an OT.
So I'm so glad that you're youknow using someone like that.
SPEAKER_03 (33:16):
She understands the body, I understand the house.
SPEAKER_00 (33:19):
That's right.
That's and that's what you need.
SPEAKER_03 (33:22):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (33:23):
I think the CAP certification tries, uh you
know, as an OT, I went throughthe CAP certification and I
think it tried very hard toteach me about the house.
SPEAKER_03 (33:34):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (33:34):
But you're right, I I am more in tune to the body
than the house.
It's what I did for many years,it's what you do for many years.
So that's why I think it's soimportant that for it to be a
multidisciplinary type of teamthat goes in there.
SPEAKER_03 (33:49):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (33:49):
Do you do you guys do you guys see any trends in
the housing industry of howhouses maybe are being built or
or rebuilt or modified in orderto accommodate accessible
living?
Do you think it's more umaccepted, this whole universal
design idea?
SPEAKER_03 (34:07):
I I don't think the the uh uh builders understand
that concept yet.
And I don't know if they will,you know, unless you go to a
planned adult community.
You know, there you will.
A lot of people just don't wantto get into that planned adult
community, you know, right,right.
SPEAKER_02 (34:24):
You know, um and even there they just touch on
it.
I mean, they they don't reallyget into uh making the interior
the home.
I mean, I mean it's all onelevel, uh, but they don't they
don't do the the things that wedo that would allow someone to
live there for many years tocome.
(34:44):
I mean many people that moveinto these 55 plus uh uh active
active adults, they can theycan't they can't live there for
the for you know for the for theremainder of their lives.
SPEAKER_03 (34:56):
Right.
And then the the builders arelooking at sales.
You know, they're the same oneswho who uh in the 40s put two
24-inch doors into bathrooms.
unknown (35:08):
Right, right.
SPEAKER_03 (35:10):
You know, it's all about making that sale.
So I don't know, and and there'sprobably there are some uh uh
contractors out there who aremaking homes uh under UD design
concept.
So, you know, I it and but uh Idon't go into a lot of new homes
to to evaluate them.
So I would hope that they'rethey're getting smarter.
You know, to me, that's a sale,that's a it's accommodations
(35:34):
that it's not a big deal to makeit that way.
SPEAKER_00 (35:37):
It isn't, but you know, they they they've done it
the way they've always done it,and now they have to change, you
know.
At the very least, I I wish theywould incorporate, even if they
just incorporate the space for aresidential elevator, you know,
for the future, um, if if theydon't have to put it in right
away, but at least to have thatspace there.
SPEAKER_03 (35:58):
Or a lot of them are doing a lot of the townhomes
too, stacking closets.
SPEAKER_00 (36:04):
Oh, good, that's good.
SPEAKER_03 (36:06):
So they know so you can do an elevator, all you
gotta do is put in the elevatorand go.
I think it's more on the townhomes than than anything, but
but they do make so you know,there's some prethought.
SPEAKER_00 (36:18):
That's good.
Well, then that's a shift.
That's a shift, you know.
SPEAKER_03 (36:21):
And they're they're making doors generally.
Now I can't I don't know howmuch of it is code where they
have to do it, but at least 32to 36 inch doors.
Good, you know.
SPEAKER_00 (36:31):
Um I mean, I worked in South Florida for years, and
and even the condos there in the55 plus, I can't tell you how
many doorways, especially intothe bathroom for whatever
reason, was not wide enough.
And it had a lip.
Almost every bathroom had a lip.
So even if the person was ableto get into a wheelchair and
(36:53):
take themselves to that bathroomdoor, if they could even get
through the bathroom door, theycouldn't get over that little
marble half-inch lip becausethey just didn't have strength
to push themselves up and Icould two or three different ALS
situations where it was going tobe really costly to redo the
shower.
SPEAKER_03 (37:13):
I'm not real proud of it, but what we've done is we
raised the floor with wood.
We put that decking, we made itkind of a deck, and these had
access had enough room to have aramp to go in there.
SPEAKER_01 (37:26):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (37:29):
And then they had that level platform and then
ramp back out.
You know, it's not the bestsolution, it does work.
So, you know, it's it's tryingto think outside the box and
that's right.
What can accommodate you knowthe client.
You know, a lot of times it'sthe spouse who's got to get them
in there.
So if we can make it easier forthe spouse, then that works.
(37:50):
You know, ideally we're gonnaput in a ceiling lift, but that
doesn't work all the timeeither.
SPEAKER_00 (37:55):
Again, personalizing it, you know, not only to the
house, but to the person and tothe living caregiver, whoever
that is.
SPEAKER_02 (38:04):
Yeah, you know, that's the other thing that's
that we always stress is we knowthat there's going to be at some
point in time, the person'sgonna sell their home.
Or the adult child may end upselling the home.
So we want to let them know thatwhatever we're doing, first and
foremost, is going to befunctional for them, but it's
got to be it be aestheticallypleasing as well.
SPEAKER_00 (38:26):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (38:27):
Because it cannot look institutional looking.
We want that we want that wowfactor involved that if they got
their house on the market, thatwhen another person comes and
looks at it, they just see, ohmy gosh, it's got it, it's it's
got the accessibility, but it'struly, really beautiful.
And that's that's the whole ideaof trying to we and like Dennis
(38:51):
says, functionality sometimes ismost important.
So we do whatever needs to bedone just to help that person.
But in every instance, we try tomake it beauty, beauty as much
as functional.
SPEAKER_00 (39:02):
But I love how today, and and you know, Dennis
mentioned it earlier, you know,the how they're integrating grab
bars into functional things likethe toilet paper and the soap
bar and whatever.
I love how function is oraccessible products, whatever,
are being integrated withbeautiful things or practical
(39:25):
things or something that'salready there anyway.
Um I I love that.
I think that's going tohopefully, you know, become more
and more, um, especially withwith you know all the ideas that
you can get from AI thinkingnowadays.
And I think product designers umhopefully are looking at that um
(39:47):
uh demographic more.
Um, because I mean let's faceit, the the number of people
needing it is there, yeah.
Definitely there.
So how how can we fit that?
You know, years ago it was allabout the youth market, but I
think as the boomers, you know,like myself are getting you know
more and more 10,000 plus a day,then obviously you have to feed
(40:11):
the market.
SPEAKER_03 (40:13):
Well, one of the things we've been using the last
few years in the shower, there'sa vertical slide bar where you
can put your handheld.
SPEAKER_00 (40:21):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (40:21):
Well, that's a grab bar.
Ah you gotta, it's got a deltahas it.
It's it's a special one, it's alittle bit bigger than your
other vertical bar, but then itdoesn't look like a grab bar.
SPEAKER_00 (40:33):
Right.
SPEAKER_03 (40:34):
We like to use the uh a diverter where it will
control the handheld, but italso will control the shower
head.
So you just switch it, and theneither it's for the caregiver or
so you know it gives a sometimeswe'll put it to the side.
SPEAKER_00 (40:49):
Oh, yeah, by the seat, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (40:51):
Yeah, so the idea is if so the person that's
challenged, they're not gettingup and moving around.
Right.
They're sitting there and thisis what they need, and that's
where it is.
Right.
Put the little niche there.
So yeah, you know, it's nicething about residential is we
can uh control it to the clientcommercial, we're controlled to
(41:15):
restrictions, you know.
You have to have it this high.
Well, that doesn't work foreverybody, right?
SPEAKER_00 (41:21):
Exactly.
Exactly.
SPEAKER_03 (41:23):
That grab bar behind the toilet, nobody ever does
uses that.
unknown (41:26):
You know, right.
SPEAKER_00 (41:28):
I think I just did an article on that.
I'm not sure.
Um, do you guys ever get askedto do any Airbnb or vacation
rentals?
Is that something no?
SPEAKER_03 (41:38):
Every once in a while we'll get apartment homes
and we gotta go through uh thelandlord and everything else.
But yeah, yeah, no Airbnbs, novacation homes.
SPEAKER_00 (41:48):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (41:48):
I would think that would be something well as long
as I guess the problem there iscan they get the client in the
house?
SPEAKER_00 (41:56):
Right.
unknown (41:57):
Right.
SPEAKER_03 (41:58):
If not, then so um that could be a challenge.
SPEAKER_00 (42:03):
Do you see um do you see a shift in um uh what am I
trying to say in the awarenessof uh of these kinds of
accessible modifications as Iguess it becomes more
acceptable.
Um I guess it becomes more well,maybe it's not becoming more
(42:27):
acceptable.
Maybe because of the price ofhousing these days, there is
more of that multi-generationalpeople aren't really um you know
living in in um you know otherhomes or apart.
They're deciding to staytogether, even if they're abled
or disabled in any way.
So do you see more of a shift inthat?
SPEAKER_03 (42:50):
Now I see a lot of um people wanting to get in
their own home and stay in theirown home.
SPEAKER_00 (42:55):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (42:56):
So, you know, and and there they're uh we've seen
a great uptick in in uh our ourwebsite, but people are looking
to stay at home, and and it alot of times the the the mom or
dad they recoup better oncethey're at home, they're back
into their their surroundings,you know.
(43:17):
Um, and to pick up and move isan ordeal.
You know, it's it's better to goahead and as long as we're uh
they're spending money forwardinstead of backwards, you know,
enhancing the house that hadn'tbeen, you know, would take out a
lot of garden tubs, you know,and used for storage.
SPEAKER_00 (43:38):
I took mine out, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (43:40):
And the the grandkids are growing up, you
know.
Yeah, so it the garden tub.
SPEAKER_00 (43:48):
Yeah, the dust collector, basically.
SPEAKER_03 (43:51):
I was in front of that big old four-foot window.
I know, I know, then we gottafigure out what to do with that
four foot window and privacy andeverything.
SPEAKER_00 (44:00):
So I know I saw that a lot here in um in Georgia,
yeah.
Um so for someone who's juststarting on this process, you
know, what do you tell them todo?
I mean, hopefully they find yourwebsite and they start off with
you guys because I think I thinkthat would be a wonderful thing
(44:22):
because you you can give themjust about everything, it sounds
like.
But what advice do you give?
You know, when you go to a partyand someone says, Yeah, my mom
is, you know, 85 and I think weneed to start doing something,
you know, what advice do yougive?
SPEAKER_03 (44:38):
I think you want to start off with that one.
SPEAKER_02 (44:40):
Yeah, I think the first thing to think about is a
is a checklist of all the thingsthat they should look at in
their home to make sure that itis as safe as it can possibly
be.
Um and and there's some thingsthat can even make it more
(45:01):
accessible, like uh taking ffurniture, take taking furniture
out.
It's not not I mean why I Iremember visiting homes back
years ago and you couldn'thardly walk through it.
It was so much so much things,so it was so it was so much um
gosh, I don't know, stuff alongwith furniture.
(45:22):
Those type of things are anaccident waiting for a place to
happen.
SPEAKER_00 (45:26):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (45:27):
So so just getting a checklist and and looking
looking at it, I think doing allthose things, putting it into
action can sometimes postponethe need for modification.
If it's someone who is not uhcertainly I'm not talking about
someone who's disabled, butsomeone who is still mobile.
(45:49):
Yeah, uh maybe they have sometype of a chronic illness, but
is they have not lost theirmobility.
If they can just put thechecklist of things in in
action, um they might need usnow or need us two years from
now.
You know what I'm what I'msaying?
Right, exactly.
And we can provide them withthat uh easily.
(46:10):
We send people out checklistsjust to make them aware of what
their initial needs might be.
SPEAKER_03 (46:18):
AARP's got a checklist from their home fit
program, so that's a good start.
But you know, like if the thechildren see start noticing the
parents are having a little bitmore of a challenge during this
or that, you know, that might bethe time to go ahead and and and
bring somebody in to evaluatetheir home and at least have a
(46:40):
plan.
Right.
You know, you know, if thishappens, you could do this, or
you know, you really might wantto go ahead and do this now.
You know, if they're they'rehaving issues with the stairs,
um make the handrail different,or you know, it's just a simple
grab bar, you know.
But uh finding someone who'scertified, you know, a lot of
(47:02):
times it's just an OT.
unknown (47:04):
Right.
SPEAKER_03 (47:04):
Come in and say, you know, say, look, these are your
precaution areas, these are yourhigh points.
The OT is great.
The ones we use, she wouldcharge about$150, but she'll
pull put up a report, and thenyou can use that to to gauge how
uh uh as things progress, youknow.
But it's like we were Rick wassaying, a lot of it's
(47:25):
preventive.
If you could go ahead and getthis grab bar in now, you know,
and and even though uh one ofthem, their youngsters, will go
into the shower and they'll seethe grab bar, they like it.
Yeah, it's that level ofcomfort.
If I'm getting out of the showerand if I'm slipping, I have
something to grab onto.
Right, exactly.
(47:46):
You know, they so there's that,uh yeah, it's paying attention
to if they're having issues, youknow.
A lot of times uh adults won'tacknowledge it because they're
gonna be afraid to lose theirindependence.
SPEAKER_00 (48:00):
But the funny thing is, it's the thing that gives
them the independence, you know.
I mean, I cannot tell you, Iworked in geriatric head injury,
and I cannot tell you how manypatients I treated that came to
me with the head injury and andsometimes other injuries as
well, simply because you know,they tripped on the step, or you
(48:22):
know, then they didn't haveanything to hold on to.
They tripped over a rug, or theybumped into the coffee table and
then fell on the glass coffeetable.
I mean, just silly, silly thingsthat could have been prevented.
And many of the times theycouldn't go back home anymore.
That was it.
Yeah, and it's it was soheartbreaking to know if they
(48:43):
had just fixed it before.
Um, and you're right about thefurniture and stuff.
I think decluttering is the veryfirst step in any home
modification for staying homeand being as independent as
possible for as long aspossible.
SPEAKER_02 (48:59):
Yeah.
I know we're finishing up, butuh Dennis, how many times have
you no seen where if someone hadfallen a senior had fallen, they
didn't want to let theirchildren know because if they
did, they would say, Oh, that'sit.
That's the that's the last one.
You got to go into a nursinghome, you got to go into
(49:21):
assisted living.
So they keep it to themselves.
SPEAKER_03 (49:24):
Well, and a lot of times we'll go to an A uh uh ALS
client.
We get a lot of calls once theyfirst diagnose.
We'll go ahead and evaluate thehome, you know, to say, you
know, this phase you can, youknow, this phase will work, this
phase here, but once you get tothis phase, you know, it won't
work.
But a lot of times the spouse isvery active and they don't want
(49:46):
to go to uh 50 plus, right,right, you know, they don't want
to go to assisted living, so youknow you kind of have to weigh
all that out, you know.
SPEAKER_00 (49:55):
Once the uh the the client passes, the spouse still
has a life, right, right, andobviously it's a personal
decision with each family, youknow how they uh obviously
you're you're right, but and andyou're right, Rick, you know, a
lot of adult children, as soonas they hear that their parent
(50:16):
fell, you know, the other thingis they're afraid they're gonna
start putting cameras everywhereall around them, you know, to
watch them.
But luckily, you know, there aresensors nowadays that aren't an
actual camera, they just sensemotion, right?
You know, so if the motion isn'tmoving, then then something is
wrong.
But so it is getting better.
SPEAKER_03 (50:38):
But yeah, there is that that one technology I've
been put pushing and alwaysasking about is in the bathroom
if there's a fall.
You know, Apple and differentpeople have some function, but
if you don't have an AppleWatch, right, or you know, if
you're knocked out, what isgonna happen?
You can't put a camera there,and the little sensors, they're
(50:59):
not instant.
SPEAKER_00 (51:00):
Right, they're not instant.
And you know, I like Alexa,yeah, I like those devices
everywhere, but you're right.
If you're knocked out, that'snot gonna help you because
that's voice activated.
So, I mean, you're right.
That's why the you know, thewhole idea of daily check-ins,
but even a daily check-in.
Yeah, you know, if you get adaily check-in at 8 a.m.
(51:21):
and you fell at 10 a.m., thenwhat?
You're not gonna get anothercheck-in until the next day at 8
a.m.
SPEAKER_03 (51:27):
It's so yeah, yeah.
It's it's not a great system,but um so I'm always
encouraging.
I I belong to HTC in Atlantawhere all these people come
together, all this technology,but nobody has a solution yet.
SPEAKER_00 (51:43):
Not yet, but it'll get there.
SPEAKER_03 (51:45):
Well, you know, and I I do handle a lot of products
out of Denmark, so I've gottento know some people in Denmark,
and they really don't have any.
I figured if anybody, Denmark,somebody over there would have
something, but well, there is aum there is a product sensitive.
SPEAKER_00 (52:00):
I thought it came out of Denmark.
Um, it's called the Nobi lamp,the no N O B I, and it's a
ceiling lamp, but it's also uh amotion detector.
Um and I think it's also avoice, um, you know, you can you
can talk to it and connect withpeople, but it's just a ceiling
(52:22):
lamp.
Now I'm not sure if it'savailable in the US.
That's the thing, but I thinkit's from Denmark or somewhere
the Netherlands.
I I'm not sure, but N-O-B-I, umsmart lamp.
And what I liked about it wasthat it didn't, like you said,
it doesn't look, it just lookslike a ceiling lamp.
SPEAKER_01 (52:42):
Right.
You know, and um yeah, yeah, butit has that detection.
SPEAKER_00 (52:47):
And obviously, you know, whoever is the other
person on the on the app orwhatever, um, you know, then
that person also has to, youknow, be cognizant enough to
take a look at that app everynow and then or get the
notification.
SPEAKER_03 (53:03):
Hopefully, there'll be enough notification.
SPEAKER_00 (53:05):
Right, get the notification.
So, I mean, you're right, it'snot perfect as of yet, but who
knows?
Maybe you guys will come up withthe next uh pet rock for
seniors.
SPEAKER_03 (53:15):
Yeah, yeah.
That would be, you know, it's amatter of getting it our ideas
and concepts to the rightperson.
SPEAKER_00 (53:21):
That's right.
That's it.
That's it.
Um that's it.
Um, well, I think that I mean,accessible living Atlanta is an
awesome service.
I think we're so lucky.
I'm very lucky to be living inthe Atlanta area to have you
guys close by.
Um, I should have you comeassess my home.
Check it out.
SPEAKER_03 (53:41):
Well, there's a there's a lot of remodelers who
who do accessibility, but therethat's all we do is
accessibility.
SPEAKER_00 (53:49):
Yeah, there's a lot of remodelers that do it, but
not everybody does it well, andnot everybody does it with a
team, you know, where you giveextra services, you know, like
Rick was saying, you always tryto go above and beyond.
Um, so I really like I reallylike, I think that's so
important.
Um have you guys heard of thevillage model or the village
(54:12):
movement?
SPEAKER_03 (54:14):
Yes, but you might have to remind me.
I've heard of it.
SPEAKER_00 (54:17):
Yeah, is there one in Atlanta?
Um, it started in the Northeast,I think, in Maryland, or I'm not
sure.
Anyway, basically what it is isum a group of people in uh let's
say a 10 mile radius, you know,um you join the group, the
village, whatever you join thatgroup, and I think you pay a
(54:38):
monthly fee or yearly fee.
And in that group, the thepeople in that group then in
that area, they help each other.
Um, so if there's a carpenter, aretired carpenter living in that
area, he'll help other people inthat group.
If there's uh someone who candrive, he'll help people in that
group.
So it's a way for you to stay inyour home, but at the same time
(55:02):
live in uh, you know, get thehelp like you would in a
community.
And some of them are um wealthyenough or however it works that
they actually hire a physicianor a physical therapist to come
and do home therapy or home, youknow, medical care or whatever.
(55:22):
Um so I I like the idea.
I just didn't know if there wasone here in Atlanta because that
would be another.
SPEAKER_02 (55:28):
The closest thing to that Esther would be next door.
SPEAKER_00 (55:32):
Yes.
The the next door, you mean thatlittle uh online?
SPEAKER_01 (55:37):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (55:37):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (55:38):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (55:39):
It's something like that, only it's a specific group
of people.
And I think what you're payingfor is are the services that
everybody contributes.
SPEAKER_03 (55:51):
Now Dunwoody was doing something of that, but it
you it was uh you paid a fee andit's the uh concierge kind of
concept.
SPEAKER_00 (56:00):
Okay, yeah.
I mean, you know that I think isvery important, the concierge
system.
Um, I think a lot of seniorsdon't take advantage of it as
much, although it may bechanging.
Ever since COVID, I think moreand more people are accustomed
to getting services delivered,things you know right.
I I like that idea.
(56:20):
I I use it a lot.
Yeah.
Um I think it's great.
I think you guys are doing anamazing job.
SPEAKER_01 (56:27):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (56:28):
And um, yeah, anything that I can do to help
you, I let let me know.
SPEAKER_03 (56:32):
Well, we do a lot of presentations, I do a lot of
lunch and learns and andpractices.
So if you come across somethingwhere you would like to uh uh
partner up, all right, you canlet me know.
We'll we'll do the same.
SPEAKER_00 (56:45):
Sounds good.
Yeah, that sounds great.
SPEAKER_03 (56:48):
For letting us participate.
Yeah, this was fun.
This was fun.
SPEAKER_00 (56:51):
Oh, sure.
Anytime.
And if you guys have anyquestions about, you know, the
internet or your website oryeah, um article writing or AI,
feel free to let me know.
If I know it, I'll I'll tell youwhat I know.
And if I don't know it, I'lllearn it and tell you what I
know.
SPEAKER_03 (57:09):
She was talking about Opus.
Yeah, put that down.
Yeah, yeah, that sounds reallyneat.
SPEAKER_00 (57:16):
Yeah, that's a great tool to just throw in your video
and then have it slice it upinto pieces and then you just
submit it.
Right.
Um, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (57:25):
Rick, we'll um we're Esther, we'll we'll pick a date,
we'll meet in Swane.
SPEAKER_00 (57:30):
Oh, I love that.
We have a brand new restaurantopening up with international
tapas.
SPEAKER_03 (57:36):
Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_00 (57:37):
So yeah, we'll check it out.
I'll uh I'll send an Uber foryou guys.
SPEAKER_02 (57:43):
You're gonna send an Uber up to LAJ?
SPEAKER_00 (57:47):
Well, LAJ, okay.
Well, that's a little far.
Yeah, that's a little far.
Maybe we can meet a quick waybetween LAJ and uh Swanee.
SPEAKER_02 (57:55):
I'll meet Dennison Tucker, then you uh that that'll
work.
SPEAKER_03 (57:58):
Maybe either all of us meet in Swanee.
SPEAKER_00 (58:01):
Yeah, I guess so.
I guess I can go across country,Rick.
SPEAKER_03 (58:05):
I guess thank you.
I sure we appreciate this time.
SPEAKER_00 (58:08):
Thank you guys so much.
I appreciate your time.
I'll see you all later.
SPEAKER_03 (58:12):
Have a good day.
SPEAKER_00 (58:13):
Yeah, you too.
Well, I want to welcome everybody to the
podcast.
Thank you so much for coming.
Today we have two amazing folkswho are working to make the
Atlanta area, Atlanta, Georgiaarea, safer for older adults.
They are with um alatlanta.com.
(00:52):
If you want to visit theirwebsite, they have a beautiful
website.
It's Accessible Living Atlanta.
And we've got Rick Thaxton here.
And we've got Dennis, what'syour last name?
SPEAKER_03 (01:05):
Lippy.
L-I-P-P-Y.
SPEAKER_00 (01:07):
Dennis Lippy as well.
So they are going to tell us alittle bit about who they are,
what they are, and what they do.
And thank you, boys.
Thank you guys so much forcoming.
SPEAKER_03 (01:19):
So we really appreciate the opportunity to be
here.
We ran across a uh uh friend ofmine who was with the Atlanta
Regional Commission, and she wastelling us about this CAPS
program.
So we went ahead and I got CAPScertified in 05, uh 06.
(01:42):
I was one of the first ones.
So CAFS is certified agent inplace specialists.
We thought we'd get calls justto go install grab bars and and
uh so we we kind of went downthat road.
We were thinking we were goingto do a lot of aging in place,
and we would go and do thesepresentations and all everybody
be ready to age in place, buteverybody looks at it
(02:06):
reactionary, yes, you knowthat's a nice idea, but I don't
need that right now.
So so that kind of went away,and then and and then but we
kept on applying ourselves, andand we would go to senior uh
provider network niches, that'swhere little networks were the
people in the industry, and wewould go to Gwynette and DeCab
(02:28):
and different ones, and weslowly started getting more into
the uh of uh accessibility, andalso we found out that
accessibility there's nodiscrimination on age.
It happens, you know.
We did a uh home modificationfor a six-year-old board
cerebral pausing.
We do a lot with disabilitytrust, well, and we do a lot
(02:51):
with aging in place, but rightnow it's it's it's the people
who want to stay in their houseand are programmed enough to
understand that to do that theygot to make the modifications,
right?
So um, so yeah, I've been uh wehad another company and and uh
and sold that in 2019, and Ithink Rick started with me, was
(03:14):
at 2010.
SPEAKER_02 (03:15):
2010, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (03:16):
2010.
And uh Rick's been handling ourmarketing, uh doing a great job,
and and and he understands youknow, we for a little while
there we took him out ofmarketing and had him kind of in
sales, and that didn't work outgreat, but we understood that
the phone stopped ringing, andRick learned a lot more about
accessibility.
(03:38):
And through the years, we've uhI've gotten a certification for
CAC, C E A C It's CertifiedEnvironmental Uh Specialist,
Environmental Consultant, uh,which are both kind of good
areas if if people recognize it,it gives us a little bit more
training, but a lot of ourtraining's been on the job,
(04:01):
right?
Um, you know, through the years,we uh do ceiling lifts, we
partner with people, doelevators.
Um so that's that's kind of thethe evolution, and I'm gonna let
Rick share any tidbits that thathe would like to.
SPEAKER_02 (04:17):
Yeah, I I actually uh uh met Dennis while I was
working with a place for mom.
Are you familiar with a placefor mom, Esther?
SPEAKER_00 (04:28):
Yeah, of course.
SPEAKER_02 (04:29):
Yeah, uh back then a place for mom sort of um uh had
a monopoly on that industry inthe in the meantime, there's
been a quite a number ofcompanies uh in the Atlanta area
that's opening up this, which isgood to provide some
competition.
But I met Dennis and uh kind ofuh uh evolved away from a place
(04:50):
for mom, and we got together in2010, and I worked with him for
10 years until 2020, and hementioned about selling the
company, and at that point uh Ileft when he sold the company,
and then he called me back aboutI guess it's almost three years
ago, right, Dennis?
Yeah, yeah, three years ago.
(05:13):
Yeah, yeah.
So he called me back and saidI'd like to well, I'd like to do
some some marketing, work fromhome, and that sounded
wonderful.
So uh so I got back into workwith him and didn't it really
hasn't I haven't missed thebeat.
It's just been really fun umseeing the industry evolve from
(05:35):
2010 to 15 years uh now and seeseeing what what all is
happening to it and how uh thegrowth is taking place and just
we've we've uh been able tobenefit from a uh a lot of
different um agencies that we'vebecome uh uh affiliated with.
(05:57):
And I think the the business uhuh Dennis would would would
agree that the business has hasgotten it's really peaked, not
even not peaked, but it's reallygrown to a point now where uh
we've had um uh a lot ofincrease in in our volume since
uh those days.
SPEAKER_00 (06:20):
Yeah, I mean 10,000 people a day turning 65 until
2030, and then the nextgeneration takes over.
So obviously the market isthere, but you know, what Dennis
said was is so true is that whenyou walk in and you present
these products or thesemodifications that can help
someone to live independentlylonger, it's emotional.
(06:44):
And then that barrier, you know,comes up.
No, no, I don't need that yet,you know, I don't need that yet.
Um and it's it's difficult, youknow.
Then, you know, do you continueworking or you do you continue
trying to market to them, or nowdo you market to the family
caregivers, or do you market toboth?
And how do you, you know, how doyou get past that?
(07:05):
And beyond emotional, it's alsofinancial, you know, there's
that issue as well.
But I think that that's the thebiggest block in, but so I like
the idea of instead of callingit aging in place, it's calling
it a accessible living.
Yeah, because you're you'reright.
Now one, you're going for alarger target market, but also
(07:28):
it doesn't sound so old, likeyou're getting old.
No one wants to believe thatthey're getting older.
SPEAKER_03 (07:35):
Um when we first got started, sorry, Rick, we first
got started.
Um we did my office manager'smom's home, and she was kind of
left over from the depressionera.
SPEAKER_00 (07:48):
No, okay.
SPEAKER_03 (07:49):
She had sliding doors and she didn't want to do
that, she didn't want to grabbars, but we went ahead and took
the sliding door out and put ina curtain, made it more
functional in a grab bar, andshe said, God, I should have
done this years ago.
SPEAKER_00 (08:02):
I know, right?
Once it's done, you get thatsaving.
Should have done it years ago.
SPEAKER_03 (08:07):
It is, it is.
It's amazing, just uh a littlebit of tweaking.
I know, and uh, you know, it's alife safety issue.
SPEAKER_02 (08:15):
Well, I think well uh Dennis, what you had uh said
a few minutes ago about when youstarted the business in 05, uh
you thought it was going toreally evolve around the senior
industry, which which we do havea good percentage of our total
business, but uh we've learnedthat through uh being associated
(08:38):
with um muscular dystrophy andum uh at uh at every age,
really, uh being affected bythings like cerebral palsy, um,
and of course accidents uh playa huge role.
We get we get a number ofreferrals every year from
(08:59):
Shepherd Center, uh, where someyoung kid or a teenager or
doesn't well our our clientshave no age boundaries.
It really goes all across uhdifferent ages and different
needs.
And that's what's so neat abouthome accessibility is uh when
(09:20):
dentist goes out to visit, uheach home is tailored to suit
the specific needs of thatperson or that family.
SPEAKER_00 (09:30):
And that's amazing because I mean, honestly, some
of the same products andmodifications that you make for
someone who's 10, you know,because of cerebral palsy or
whatever, could alsoaccommodate, you know, an older
adult because of whatever youknow they have going on.
Um the modifications can be thesame.
(09:51):
Um, you know, just the the sizeof the the products will be
different, but still you'reyou're not looking at the
illness or disease or uh injury,you know, you're looking at the
capabilities of what the personcan do, and how can you make
them more independent?
I mean, isn't that whateverybody wants to be more
independent?
SPEAKER_03 (10:11):
Yes, independence, and also we really try to make
sure the caregivers are safe,you know, just as much emphasis
on the client as the caregiver,also.
There, you know, the caregivergoes down, it's usually the
spouse or the parent, they godown, you know, you got
problems.
That's right.
You know, their back goes out,so a lot of times we'll just do
(10:32):
a ceiling lift over the bed,right?
Smart pick them up and take themover to a shower chair and and
and um set them down.
But uh yeah, it and also there'sa good market out there, a lot
of people looking for accessiblehomes.
SPEAKER_00 (10:46):
Exactly.
Yeah, exactly.
I wish that home builders, youknow, I know here in Atlanta,
uh, you know, the majority ofhomes are two and three stories.
It's almost impossible to findanything that's one story.
Um, and you know, and has a zeroentryway, you know, into the
home.
And I wish um more builderswould um get on board, but you
(11:09):
know, maybe eventually, maybeeventually.
The the other thing I thinkthat's happening in in senior
care or in seniors is thatbecause people are living
longer, you know, with medicmedicine and everything, it's to
the point that what I'm seeingis seniors are caring for
seniors.
You know, my mom-in-law lived to102 and her children were in
(11:33):
their 70s, so they were caringfor her, you know.
Um, and it's they have their ownmedical issues on top of caring
for her medical issues.
So you're right, making the homeaccessible not just for the
person, but for the caregiver aswell, is very important.
SPEAKER_02 (11:51):
Along along with that same thought, Esther,
there's a lot ofmulti-generational living today
where uh either uh adultchildren move in uh to their
parents or vice versa.
Right.
Uh so in that regard, we end upuh often doing a uh an addition,
(12:11):
or either if they've got abasement, we'll go do like a
mother-in-law suite in in thebasement.
But there we've we've seen atremendous growth in that type
of thing across the years.
SPEAKER_00 (12:25):
What are the what are the zoning laws here?
And is it county by county asfar as putting in a granny pod
or you know whatever they call atiny home in the backyard?
SPEAKER_03 (12:35):
Can can we Yeah, there's uh jurisdiction issues
and uh they call them ADUaccessory dwelling units.
SPEAKER_00 (12:42):
That's right.
SPEAKER_03 (12:42):
And I I do work with uh uh bankers or who's who's
really into the zoning and andkeep pulling everything
together.
That's kind of she doesmortgage, but she does a lot of
adus.
In fact, I'm doing a CEU withher this week, but you know, it
might end up being where you'vegot an ADU attached to your
house, but the jurisdiction'snot gonna let you call it.
(13:04):
But if you call it an addition,it's okay.
You know, so yeah, uh it's it'sa matter of uh uh finding out a
lot of cities are getting to bemore receptive to the ideas
because of the space issue.
SPEAKER_00 (13:19):
Yeah, especially here.
We have beautiful big yards,most of the houses here, and you
know, you can easily accommodatethat and it it gives you that
independence at the same time,you know, um you've got somebody
there close by that can, youknow, help if you if you need
it.
And that that doesn'tnecessarily have to be for older
adults, it could be for you knowuh a child with a disability
(13:42):
that becomes a teenager and theycan have their own space, you
know.
It's um yeah.
What do you think?
What do you guys think is thatthe top three modifications that
most homes need that you seewhen you go out there and you
take a look around?
SPEAKER_03 (13:59):
I think the initial one is grab bars, yeah.
You know, and and they're reallycoming out with nice looking
grab bars so that it doesn'tlook institutional, the round
ones.
They got some really decorativetoilet paper grab bars, uh, soap
dish grab bars, regular grabbars, and and we use an anchor
(14:19):
where we don't have to findstuds, we can put it exactly
where the client needs it.
You know, a petite 90-year-oldis going to be different from a
six foot seven, threehundred-pound guy, right?
And we found these same anchorswill work in a uh for bariatrics
and they old flimsy fiberglassshowers.
SPEAKER_00 (14:40):
So they're how much weight does that hold?
SPEAKER_03 (14:44):
Uh, this one we just installed, it was 800 pounds.
SPEAKER_00 (14:47):
Wow, okay.
SPEAKER_03 (14:49):
So, you know, the technology is getting better.
And uh uh the the grab bars, youknow, they have towel bar grab
bars, which you really wouldn'tuse to pull yourself up, but
it's it's for balance, you know,as you're walking down, you can
hold it.
So they're they're really uhgetting away from the
institutional look.
Right.
(15:09):
They're not quite there yet, butyou know, all of our um zero
entry showers, they we want youto walk in every morning and go,
huh.
Right.
This is this is nice.
SPEAKER_00 (15:22):
Right.
SPEAKER_03 (15:22):
So uh, you know, there's a lot of major
inferences.
There's grab bars, and a lot oftimes we'll like we like to push
lighting.
People get up in the middle ofthe night and you know they're
walking around stumbling around.
But if you put in a little nightlight, you can pick them up
anywhere, a motion detector.
If you got a cat, the batteriesmight go pretty uh quick, but
(15:44):
you know, the lights in thehallway and the stairwells are
are great.
Um and then um just making sureyou got good handrails going
down the steps, going outside,you know, make it just kind of
what it's life safety issues.
I need to grab this, don't besilly.
(16:05):
Well, I got this great, youknow, this bag of groceries,
thinking I've got everythingunder control.
So, you know, those are kind ofthe big three that we look at.
There's different grab bars, uh,there's fold-down grab bars in
between the toilet and the sinkwhere notoriously there's no way
to put it.
So Healthcraft has a thing theycall PT rails.
(16:27):
And so, you know, watch out forrugs.
Uh, rugs are great trippinghazards.
SPEAKER_00 (16:33):
Yeah, I recommend the uh vinyl rugs.
I um if you have to have a rug,I like the vinyl rugs.
I have, I don't know if you cansee it behind the door back
there.
And what I like about it is thatthey're extremely thin, they're
non-slip, uh, they're easy toclean, especially if you have
pets.
Um, and it's a way to have thataesthetic of a rug without the
(16:56):
danger of possibly tripping overit or it folding over or having
to bend down and clean it, youknow, if somebody did some, even
those ruggables that you canwash, you still have to fold
them up and pick them up anddrag them to the washing
machine.
So the vinyl rugs I I alwaysrecommend.
And I love that you talk aboutlighting, because I think that
(17:18):
is one of the most underused umyou know, modifications.
A lot of people just don't thinkof lighting and they don't think
of how some lights cause cast ashadow.
unknown (17:30):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (17:31):
And shadows can be very disruptive for um, I mean,
I remember having some patients,we'd be walking down the hall of
the hospital and they would walkaround a shadow of uh, you know,
on the floor thinking that itwas a hole or something.
So they couldn't determine onefrom you know, I worked in head
injury, so they just theperception wasn't wasn't there.
(17:54):
So that is very important to uhto get I'm so glad you talked
about later.
SPEAKER_03 (17:59):
There's uh uh somebody tell me with the
patient with Alzheimer's, acouple things they would do is
they would put a picture of abookshelf on the back of a door
so they wouldn't went over thedoor, or they get a big old
black rug in front of the doorand they think it's a hole.
SPEAKER_00 (18:16):
Yeah, they think it's a stay away from it.
SPEAKER_03 (18:18):
Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_00 (18:19):
They stay away from it, and now they even have these
um, it looks like wallpaper orsomething, but you can put it on
the door that looks like abookshelf or a window or
something.
Yeah, there's all kinds of theselittle little tricks, and that's
great.
I mean, that's personalizing themodification to the person at
the moment, because you know,obviously Alzheimer's, yeah, it
(18:42):
is a at the moment typesituation.
At the moment.
So how difficult is it for youguys for you guys to um that
Brooklyn and me is coming out?
How difficult is it for you guysto convince people to um to take
the next step?
Or do you find it difficult?
(19:04):
Um, or how how do you how do youhandle that?
When you walk into someone'shome, obvious that things have
to be changed, but they're like,nah, nah, not yet.
SPEAKER_03 (19:14):
Yeah, well, it all depends on what level we're we
hit them.
You know, uh for the people whowere uh they're gonna modify,
they're gonna do renovations,you know, then they'll start
talking about what will work.
Um some of the ALS patients wework with, it's it's a short
(19:34):
term.
So sometimes just trying totrying to make a second floor
won't work out.
And then you know, then we tryto come up with as other
alternatives.
Um they're not as you know,majority of the times we get
there and they're looking forthe solution.
Good.
You know, you know, it might endup being where we uh they don't
(19:55):
like the colors or they they'renot real tickled about it, but
we we try to make it where thewe don't make the shower, the
bathroom bigger than its itswalls right now.
SPEAKER_01 (20:07):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (20:08):
So uh we don't like to we say, you know, if you're
gonna make modifications, we ifyou're planning on staying here
and going out feet first, youknow, that's one thing.
But but even if you uh if youthink you're gonna be here for a
while, you don't want to spendmoney to put it back for
(20:28):
sellable.
You know, if you take a closet,you know, you that closet's
gone.
SPEAKER_00 (20:32):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (20:33):
You know, out of a bathroom.
So to really kind of think aboutwhat we're gonna do.
A lot of them ramps.
We try to really say we reallylike to have a ramp and a garage
just for inclement weather andand uh you know that's a big
argument.
I'm gonna lose a car space.
unknown (20:52):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (20:53):
Yeah, but you're not going outside in the rain.
Well, we won't be driving in therain, but you know, quit quit
argue with it, you know.
You know, it does it's notgreat, but uh, you know, we
really don't like it to beoutside.
Sometimes you gotta fight withHOA and and but the big thing is
the weather, you know.
Um after a little while they'llcome down to it and there's
(21:16):
other solutions.
SPEAKER_00 (21:18):
But yeah, platform lift maybe.
SPEAKER_03 (21:21):
Correct, a vertical platform lift works, you know,
and a lot of times it's kind offunny where they would have a
conversation with their kids,and the kids would tell them one
thing and they they're theyfight it.
I get in, I say the same thing.
Great idea.
SPEAKER_00 (21:41):
It's like when the doctor party relief, whatever
the doctor says is right, eventhough it's the same thing the
families, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (21:49):
Did y'all miss me?
Yes, we did.
We had a we had a power outage,a power outage to uh here, and
uh so I lost everything,including my internet, but I'm
but I'm back.
SPEAKER_03 (22:03):
I'm glad you're back.
Glad you're here.
Um we were just talking aboutany uh um times we come across
and the and the people are kindof balking about making the
changes, but still it's it's oneof the things it's kind of
funny.
Once we get out of thedepression era age group,
they're a little bit morereceptive.
(22:24):
Okay, you know, they they Istill don't want that grab bar,
but I'll take it.
SPEAKER_00 (22:29):
Right, right.
You know, hopefully becausethey've been hearing, you know,
information about it, they'remore educated about it, and
maybe they've even seen theirum, you know, aging parents or
grandparents or whatever gothrough it and they're like, no.
SPEAKER_03 (22:46):
Yeah, that or they've gone to your neighbor's
house or friend's house and andsaw it works.
SPEAKER_00 (22:51):
Right.
They saw that it works.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (22:53):
I think a lot of times too, they're adult
children, uh, depending on whattype of uh subtle pressure that
they put upon the parent to,hey, you need to you need to do
this, or there's have to have tobe some significant change like
moving out of your home.
So that that also that that typeof threat can all uh can
(23:16):
oftentimes get someone leaningin the direction of staying at
home uh with modifications.
SPEAKER_03 (23:23):
Well, and a lot of times I'm brought in to to
evaluate it to where all right,these modifications are gonna
cost this much.
Do we move or do we stay?
You know, and sometimes I'mcalled in before they buy a
house if they've already got thechallenge or it's a progressive.
Will this house work?
You know, what's it gonna costto to make it work?
(23:44):
And you know, uh uh girl calledme and and she's got a
progressive disease and got anice uh shower, but it's got a
curve.
And and I can't do anything withit except remodel the whole
bathroom, you know.
But had we talked about itbefore, we could have, you know,
had possibilities.
SPEAKER_00 (24:04):
So um when it comes to the money, when it comes to
the cost, what kind of do youwork with other like do you work
with reverse mortgage people orpeople with grants or anything
like that, or do you rely juston the homeowner to um pay for
it?
SPEAKER_03 (24:20):
Um sometimes the VA and Rick ch chime in, uh the VA
has some some help.
Um Atlanta Regional Commissionmight have some sources, uh
FODAC, Friends of DisabledAdults and Children, but
majority of the time it isprivate pay.
SPEAKER_00 (24:36):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (24:37):
Yeah, and that does hurt, um, especially with an
ALS, you know, where that's whywe try to emphasize return on
the investment.
SPEAKER_02 (24:45):
Right.
You know, uh, you know, I'veI've talked to people over the
years, uh, and people stillthink, even though it's been
going on, home homemodification's been going on for
many, many years, people stillthink Medicare pays for home
modification.
And it's a big shock to them tofind out that it doesn't.
SPEAKER_00 (25:03):
Right, it doesn't.
It's true.
SPEAKER_02 (25:06):
Yeah, so uh, you know, I mean, we've got uh well,
we send an ebook out to uh folksthat visit our website and give
us their email address, and andwe'll send out information too,
or uh, even sometimes if theyjust need something on the
funding, we send it out withoutwithout an email address.
But there's a lot of localthings that are taking place,
(25:29):
like there's a uh a Downsyndrome clinic that's handled
at Emory School of Medicine.
Uh there's a Spinobifa uhorganization in Atlanta.
There's an autism, it's calledAutism Speaks.
Uh, and of course, these are allchildren, mostly children
related, but those are all basedin Atlanta.
(25:51):
Then there's a Georgia Medicaidwaiver where people who are in
that um financial zone uh of thelower economic where they
qualify for Medicaid, there areprograms where those folks can
get home modification, either atno cost or a greatly reduced
(26:12):
cost.
So that's just a few of many,many options.
I mean, certain organizationshave grants, like Dennis
mentioned.
The ALS has grants, Alzheimer'shas grants.
Um there's a there's anorganization called Disability
Link that's local in Atlanta.
Uh we work with them sometimesabout uh finding funds for
(26:35):
someone.
You know, we we've always triedto uh make a dedicated effort to
not let someone hanging if theydon't have the money, we try
everything we possibly can tohelp them get the funds.
And sometimes we can, andsometimes it just doesn't
(26:55):
happen.
But we always we always go theextra mile trying to make that
you know make that work.
SPEAKER_00 (27:02):
I think that's important because walking in,
you know, if you can be theperson that they call for
whatever, uh you may not do theactual work, you know, you may
not actually provide the fundingor the grant, but you know who
can.
SPEAKER_01 (27:17):
True.
SPEAKER_00 (27:18):
You know, you have the connection so that that way
you become their source.
SPEAKER_02 (27:23):
And that's really so important because one, you're
building trust, and two, you'rebuilding, you know, more
referrals, you know, not onlywe've we've always tried to be
more than a home modificationprovider.
We've tried to become anadvocate for seniors, and due to
the fact we've been doing thisso long, uh, we've really got a
(27:45):
very uh good data database wherewe people call in about certain
things.
We've got people that we canconnect them with.
So that's that I think that doeshelp a lot to let people know
that we're not here just to dohome modifications, we're here
to to help you to find answersfor other things, even though it
(28:06):
may not be directly related towhat we do.
SPEAKER_00 (28:09):
Right.
I think that's awesome.
That's true, full service.
SPEAKER_03 (28:13):
Yes.
Well, also I go out and I telleverybody, you're getting my
opinion, and that's free.
You know, a lot of times, youknow, they they didn't ask to
get into this situation, and Idon't feel comfortable going out
there and charging them, youknow.
But um, and sometimes it workswith me.
Sometimes we might just, youknow, as Rick was saying, point
(28:35):
you in the right direction, tellyou what the equipment is out
there, and this is what we know,and um, but yeah, I don't like
to get too much into a fee forthese little bitty things.
SPEAKER_00 (28:46):
Right.
Yeah, and it's an educatedopinion, it's not just you know,
an opinion.
SPEAKER_03 (28:51):
So you know if I get if I charge you for it, then you
can sue me.
SPEAKER_00 (28:57):
Hopefully that's but you're right.
SPEAKER_03 (28:59):
I mean, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (29:00):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (29:01):
So what I what I know, I'll be glad to share with
you.
SPEAKER_00 (29:05):
So um I you you have obviously contractors, handymen,
whatever in your, you know, theteam that you send out.
How do you train them?
What how do you teach them towork with this population?
SPEAKER_03 (29:21):
They've um they've been with me for years.
Um you know, it's it's the sameidea, but they they they have
compassion for what they'redoing, they understand what
they're doing, and they're notafraid to say, you know, if you
if we do this, it would makethings easier.
So when I go in, I'll draw up abathroom.
(29:42):
Sometimes they get there andsay, well, you know, this could
go this way.
So they understand the problemsuh of the people we're working
with.
SPEAKER_00 (29:50):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (29:50):
So it's uh it's not a uh they're training, there are
carpenters, uh, so it's the theinstallation is not the problem,
it's understanding why and wherewe put it.
SPEAKER_02 (30:02):
I think another another thing, Dennis, is our
people are not handymen by anystretch of nation.
These are these are highly paid,uh very skilled people that that
do have a number of skills.
Um oftentimes they they are uhuh can do electrical work, they
(30:25):
can do tile work.
Uh as Dennis mentioned, they'reall carpenters, but uh the only
time which Uh and correct me ifI'm wrong, Dennis, but we I
guess we would still call in aplumber, especially if we have
to have some plumbing moved.
But if it's a small type ofthing, even our people can do
that, it can do that as well.
But our people, Esther, are allemployees.
(30:48):
We don't we don't work with anyuh subcontractors.
SPEAKER_03 (30:52):
We they'll but but we do we hire out plumbers and
electricians.
Yeah, lately when we get toobusy, we do tile hand out the
tile work.
But okay, they can get in, youknow, a lot of times.
I just had a uh a call from a uha gentleman and um he knew six
months ago his wife was gonnaget out of the hospital, and two
(31:13):
weeks ago he called me on a on aWednesday, she's getting out on
a Friday.
So we had to, you know, all of asudden, you know, we we like to
start a job and have it planned,but you know, all of a sudden we
had to jump.
SPEAKER_00 (31:26):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (31:26):
You know, it's uh it's it's very much of a pain to
do, but we have to get in andget out.
You know, a lot of times peoplethey haven't had a shower in
weeks.
They've been waiting for us toget there, you know, or it's
something they just found us.
So yeah, it's a um thetrade-wise, we we do sub that
(31:46):
out.
Um uh we'll do uh minuteplumbing, but um I don't like to
do that.
SPEAKER_00 (31:54):
Yeah, yeah.
And I mean you're you're right,it does take planning, and when
you have to go in at the lastminute, you may not do it, it
may not be planned out as wellas it could have been, you know.
SPEAKER_03 (32:07):
Uh it really does take time and assessment and
conversation and ordermaterials, and luckily we we
work with an OT, and she wasactually she brought us in.
So when we were doing thedesign, we were able to go back
and forth and and get her, andthen uh she comes in before the
we're finish up and talks aboutthe grab bar location.
(32:30):
So so you know there that thathelps out a lot, but you know,
when we're getting in there,getting out, there's a lot of
not a lot of time to can't ordermaterials in time and and right.
SPEAKER_00 (32:42):
Oh, there you are.
Nice to see you.
SPEAKER_02 (32:49):
I knew if I kept working at it, I could I could
do it.
SPEAKER_00 (32:53):
All right, yeah, I'm so glad that you use an OT.
I mean, the whole mantra of anOT is to modify the environment
to the person.
So this whole home modificationbusiness is just in ingrained in
the the training and theeducation for an OT.
So I'm so glad that you're youknow using someone like that.
SPEAKER_03 (33:16):
She understands the body, I understand the house.
SPEAKER_00 (33:19):
That's right.
That's and that's what you need.
SPEAKER_03 (33:22):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (33:23):
I think the CAP certification tries, uh you
know, as an OT, I went throughthe CAP certification and I
think it tried very hard toteach me about the house.
SPEAKER_03 (33:34):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (33:34):
But you're right, I I am more in tune to the body
than the house.
It's what I did for many years,it's what you do for many years.
So that's why I think it's soimportant that for it to be a
multidisciplinary type of teamthat goes in there.
SPEAKER_03 (33:49):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (33:49):
Do you do you guys do you guys see any trends in
the housing industry of howhouses maybe are being built or
or rebuilt or modified in orderto accommodate accessible
living?
Do you think it's more umaccepted, this whole universal
design idea?
SPEAKER_03 (34:07):
I I don't think the the uh uh builders understand
that concept yet.
And I don't know if they will,you know, unless you go to a
planned adult community.
You know, there you will.
A lot of people just don't wantto get into that planned adult
community, you know, right,right.
SPEAKER_02 (34:24):
You know, um and even there they just touch on
it.
I mean, they they don't reallyget into uh making the interior
the home.
I mean, I mean it's all onelevel, uh, but they don't they
don't do the the things that wedo that would allow someone to
live there for many years tocome.
(34:44):
I mean many people that moveinto these 55 plus uh uh active
active adults, they can theycan't they can't live there for
the for you know for the for theremainder of their lives.
SPEAKER_03 (34:56):
Right.
And then the the builders arelooking at sales.
You know, they're the same oneswho who uh in the 40s put two
24-inch doors into bathrooms.
unknown (35:08):
Right, right.
SPEAKER_03 (35:10):
You know, it's all about making that sale.
So I don't know, and and there'sprobably there are some uh uh
contractors out there who aremaking homes uh under UD design
concept.
So, you know, I it and but uh Idon't go into a lot of new homes
to to evaluate them.
So I would hope that they'rethey're getting smarter.
You know, to me, that's a sale,that's a it's accommodations
(35:34):
that it's not a big deal to makeit that way.
SPEAKER_00 (35:37):
It isn't, but you know, they they they've done it
the way they've always done it,and now they have to change, you
know.
At the very least, I I wish theywould incorporate, even if they
just incorporate the space for aresidential elevator, you know,
for the future, um, if if theydon't have to put it in right
away, but at least to have thatspace there.
SPEAKER_03 (35:58):
Or a lot of them are doing a lot of the townhomes
too, stacking closets.
SPEAKER_00 (36:04):
Oh, good, that's good.
SPEAKER_03 (36:06):
So they know so you can do an elevator, all you
gotta do is put in the elevatorand go.
I think it's more on the townhomes than than anything, but
but they do make so you know,there's some prethought.
SPEAKER_00 (36:18):
That's good.
Well, then that's a shift.
That's a shift, you know.
SPEAKER_03 (36:21):
And they're they're making doors generally.
Now I can't I don't know howmuch of it is code where they
have to do it, but at least 32to 36 inch doors.
Good, you know.
SPEAKER_00 (36:31):
Um I mean, I worked in South Florida for years, and
and even the condos there in the55 plus, I can't tell you how
many doorways, especially intothe bathroom for whatever
reason, was not wide enough.
And it had a lip.
Almost every bathroom had a lip.
So even if the person was ableto get into a wheelchair and
(36:53):
take themselves to that bathroomdoor, if they could even get
through the bathroom door, theycouldn't get over that little
marble half-inch lip becausethey just didn't have strength
to push themselves up and Icould two or three different ALS
situations where it was going tobe really costly to redo the
shower.
SPEAKER_03 (37:13):
I'm not real proud of it, but what we've done is we
raised the floor with wood.
We put that decking, we made itkind of a deck, and these had
access had enough room to have aramp to go in there.
SPEAKER_01 (37:26):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (37:29):
And then they had that level platform and then
ramp back out.
You know, it's not the bestsolution, it does work.
So, you know, it's it's tryingto think outside the box and
that's right.
What can accommodate you knowthe client.
You know, a lot of times it'sthe spouse who's got to get them
in there.
So if we can make it easier forthe spouse, then that works.
(37:50):
You know, ideally we're gonnaput in a ceiling lift, but that
doesn't work all the timeeither.
SPEAKER_00 (37:55):
Again, personalizing it, you know, not only to the
house, but to the person and tothe living caregiver, whoever
that is.
SPEAKER_02 (38:04):
Yeah, you know, that's the other thing that's
that we always stress is we knowthat there's going to be at some
point in time, the person'sgonna sell their home.
Or the adult child may end upselling the home.
So we want to let them know thatwhatever we're doing, first and
foremost, is going to befunctional for them, but it's
got to be it be aestheticallypleasing as well.
SPEAKER_00 (38:26):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (38:27):
Because it cannot look institutional looking.
We want that we want that wowfactor involved that if they got
their house on the market, thatwhen another person comes and
looks at it, they just see, ohmy gosh, it's got it, it's it's
got the accessibility, but it'struly, really beautiful.
And that's that's the whole ideaof trying to we and like Dennis
(38:51):
says, functionality sometimes ismost important.
So we do whatever needs to bedone just to help that person.
But in every instance, we try tomake it beauty, beauty as much
as functional.
SPEAKER_00 (39:02):
But I love how today, and and you know, Dennis
mentioned it earlier, you know,the how they're integrating grab
bars into functional things likethe toilet paper and the soap
bar and whatever.
I love how function is oraccessible products, whatever,
are being integrated withbeautiful things or practical
(39:25):
things or something that'salready there anyway.
Um I I love that.
I think that's going tohopefully, you know, become more
and more, um, especially withwith you know all the ideas that
you can get from AI thinkingnowadays.
And I think product designers umhopefully are looking at that um
(39:47):
uh demographic more.
Um, because I mean let's faceit, the the number of people
needing it is there, yeah.
Definitely there.
So how how can we fit that?
You know, years ago it was allabout the youth market, but I
think as the boomers, you know,like myself are getting you know
more and more 10,000 plus a day,then obviously you have to feed
(40:11):
the market.
SPEAKER_03 (40:13):
Well, one of the things we've been using the last
few years in the shower, there'sa vertical slide bar where you
can put your handheld.
SPEAKER_00 (40:21):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (40:21):
Well, that's a grab bar.
Ah you gotta, it's got a deltahas it.
It's it's a special one, it's alittle bit bigger than your
other vertical bar, but then itdoesn't look like a grab bar.
SPEAKER_00 (40:33):
Right.
SPEAKER_03 (40:34):
We like to use the uh a diverter where it will
control the handheld, but italso will control the shower
head.
So you just switch it, and theneither it's for the caregiver or
so you know it gives a sometimeswe'll put it to the side.
SPEAKER_00 (40:49):
Oh, yeah, by the seat, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (40:51):
Yeah, so the idea is if so the person that's
challenged, they're not gettingup and moving around.
Right.
They're sitting there and thisis what they need, and that's
where it is.
Right.
Put the little niche there.
So yeah, you know, it's nicething about residential is we
can uh control it to the clientcommercial, we're controlled to
(41:15):
restrictions, you know.
You have to have it this high.
Well, that doesn't work foreverybody, right?
SPEAKER_00 (41:21):
Exactly.
Exactly.
SPEAKER_03 (41:23):
That grab bar behind the toilet, nobody ever does
uses that.
unknown (41:26):
You know, right.
SPEAKER_00 (41:28):
I think I just did an article on that.
I'm not sure.
Um, do you guys ever get askedto do any Airbnb or vacation
rentals?
Is that something no?
SPEAKER_03 (41:38):
Every once in a while we'll get apartment homes
and we gotta go through uh thelandlord and everything else.
But yeah, yeah, no Airbnbs, novacation homes.
SPEAKER_00 (41:48):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (41:48):
I would think that would be something well as long
as I guess the problem there iscan they get the client in the
house?
SPEAKER_00 (41:56):
Right.
unknown (41:57):
Right.
SPEAKER_03 (41:58):
If not, then so um that could be a challenge.
SPEAKER_00 (42:03):
Do you see um do you see a shift in um uh what am I
trying to say in the awarenessof uh of these kinds of
accessible modifications as Iguess it becomes more
acceptable.
Um I guess it becomes more well,maybe it's not becoming more
(42:27):
acceptable.
Maybe because of the price ofhousing these days, there is
more of that multi-generationalpeople aren't really um you know
living in in um you know otherhomes or apart.
They're deciding to staytogether, even if they're abled
or disabled in any way.
So do you see more of a shift inthat?
SPEAKER_03 (42:50):
Now I see a lot of um people wanting to get in
their own home and stay in theirown home.
SPEAKER_00 (42:55):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (42:56):
So, you know, and and there they're uh we've seen
a great uptick in in uh our ourwebsite, but people are looking
to stay at home, and and it alot of times the the the mom or
dad they recoup better oncethey're at home, they're back
into their their surroundings,you know.
(43:17):
Um, and to pick up and move isan ordeal.
You know, it's it's better to goahead and as long as we're uh
they're spending money forwardinstead of backwards, you know,
enhancing the house that hadn'tbeen, you know, would take out a
lot of garden tubs, you know,and used for storage.
SPEAKER_00 (43:38):
I took mine out, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (43:40):
And the the grandkids are growing up, you
know.
Yeah, so it the garden tub.
SPEAKER_00 (43:48):
Yeah, the dust collector, basically.
SPEAKER_03 (43:51):
I was in front of that big old four-foot window.
I know, I know, then we gottafigure out what to do with that
four foot window and privacy andeverything.
SPEAKER_00 (44:00):
So I know I saw that a lot here in um in Georgia,
yeah.
Um so for someone who's juststarting on this process, you
know, what do you tell them todo?
I mean, hopefully they find yourwebsite and they start off with
you guys because I think I thinkthat would be a wonderful thing
(44:22):
because you you can give themjust about everything, it sounds
like.
But what advice do you give?
You know, when you go to a partyand someone says, Yeah, my mom
is, you know, 85 and I think weneed to start doing something,
you know, what advice do yougive?
SPEAKER_03 (44:38):
I think you want to start off with that one.
SPEAKER_02 (44:40):
Yeah, I think the first thing to think about is a
is a checklist of all the thingsthat they should look at in
their home to make sure that itis as safe as it can possibly
be.
Um and and there's some thingsthat can even make it more
(45:01):
accessible, like uh taking ffurniture, take taking furniture
out.
It's not not I mean why I Iremember visiting homes back
years ago and you couldn'thardly walk through it.
It was so much so much things,so it was so it was so much um
gosh, I don't know, stuff alongwith furniture.
(45:22):
Those type of things are anaccident waiting for a place to
happen.
SPEAKER_00 (45:26):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (45:27):
So so just getting a checklist and and looking
looking at it, I think doing allthose things, putting it into
action can sometimes postponethe need for modification.
If it's someone who is not uhcertainly I'm not talking about
someone who's disabled, butsomeone who is still mobile.
(45:49):
Yeah, uh maybe they have sometype of a chronic illness, but
is they have not lost theirmobility.
If they can just put thechecklist of things in in
action, um they might need usnow or need us two years from
now.
You know what I'm what I'msaying?
Right, exactly.
And we can provide them withthat uh easily.
(46:10):
We send people out checklistsjust to make them aware of what
their initial needs might be.
SPEAKER_03 (46:18):
AARP's got a checklist from their home fit
program, so that's a good start.
But you know, like if the thechildren see start noticing the
parents are having a little bitmore of a challenge during this
or that, you know, that might bethe time to go ahead and and and
bring somebody in to evaluatetheir home and at least have a
(46:40):
plan.
Right.
You know, you know, if thishappens, you could do this, or
you know, you really might wantto go ahead and do this now.
You know, if they're they'rehaving issues with the stairs,
um make the handrail different,or you know, it's just a simple
grab bar, you know.
But uh finding someone who'scertified, you know, a lot of
(47:02):
times it's just an OT.
unknown (47:04):
Right.
SPEAKER_03 (47:04):
Come in and say, you know, say, look, these are your
precaution areas, these are yourhigh points.
The OT is great.
The ones we use, she wouldcharge about$150, but she'll
pull put up a report, and thenyou can use that to to gauge how
uh uh as things progress, youknow.
But it's like we were Rick wassaying, a lot of it's
(47:25):
preventive.
If you could go ahead and getthis grab bar in now, you know,
and and even though uh one ofthem, their youngsters, will go
into the shower and they'll seethe grab bar, they like it.
Yeah, it's that level ofcomfort.
If I'm getting out of the showerand if I'm slipping, I have
something to grab onto.
Right, exactly.
(47:46):
You know, they so there's that,uh yeah, it's paying attention
to if they're having issues, youknow.
A lot of times uh adults won'tacknowledge it because they're
gonna be afraid to lose theirindependence.
SPEAKER_00 (48:00):
But the funny thing is, it's the thing that gives
them the independence, you know.
I mean, I cannot tell you, Iworked in geriatric head injury,
and I cannot tell you how manypatients I treated that came to
me with the head injury and andsometimes other injuries as
well, simply because you know,they tripped on the step, or you
(48:22):
know, then they didn't haveanything to hold on to.
They tripped over a rug, or theybumped into the coffee table and
then fell on the glass coffeetable.
I mean, just silly, silly thingsthat could have been prevented.
And many of the times theycouldn't go back home anymore.
That was it.
Yeah, and it's it was soheartbreaking to know if they
(48:43):
had just fixed it before.
Um, and you're right about thefurniture and stuff.
I think decluttering is the veryfirst step in any home
modification for staying homeand being as independent as
possible for as long aspossible.
SPEAKER_02 (48:59):
Yeah.
I know we're finishing up, butuh Dennis, how many times have
you no seen where if someone hadfallen a senior had fallen, they
didn't want to let theirchildren know because if they
did, they would say, Oh, that'sit.
That's the that's the last one.
You got to go into a nursinghome, you got to go into
(49:21):
assisted living.
So they keep it to themselves.
SPEAKER_03 (49:24):
Well, and a lot of times we'll go to an A uh uh ALS
client.
We get a lot of calls once theyfirst diagnose.
We'll go ahead and evaluate thehome, you know, to say, you
know, this phase you can, youknow, this phase will work, this
phase here, but once you get tothis phase, you know, it won't
work.
But a lot of times the spouse isvery active and they don't want
(49:46):
to go to uh 50 plus, right,right, you know, they don't want
to go to assisted living, so youknow you kind of have to weigh
all that out, you know.
SPEAKER_00 (49:55):
Once the uh the the client passes, the spouse still
has a life, right, right, andobviously it's a personal
decision with each family, youknow how they uh obviously
you're you're right, but and andyou're right, Rick, you know, a
lot of adult children, as soonas they hear that their parent
(50:16):
fell, you know, the other thingis they're afraid they're gonna
start putting cameras everywhereall around them, you know, to
watch them.
But luckily, you know, there aresensors nowadays that aren't an
actual camera, they just sensemotion, right?
You know, so if the motion isn'tmoving, then then something is
wrong.
But so it is getting better.
SPEAKER_03 (50:38):
But yeah, there is that that one technology I've
been put pushing and alwaysasking about is in the bathroom
if there's a fall.
You know, Apple and differentpeople have some function, but
if you don't have an AppleWatch, right, or you know, if
you're knocked out, what isgonna happen?
You can't put a camera there,and the little sensors, they're
(50:59):
not instant.
SPEAKER_00 (51:00):
Right, they're not instant.
And you know, I like Alexa,yeah, I like those devices
everywhere, but you're right.
If you're knocked out, that'snot gonna help you because
that's voice activated.
So, I mean, you're right.
That's why the you know, thewhole idea of daily check-ins,
but even a daily check-in.
Yeah, you know, if you get adaily check-in at 8 a.m.
(51:21):
and you fell at 10 a.m., thenwhat?
You're not gonna get anothercheck-in until the next day at 8
a.m.
SPEAKER_03 (51:27):
It's so yeah, yeah.
It's it's not a great system,but um so I'm always
encouraging.
I I belong to HTC in Atlantawhere all these people come
together, all this technology,but nobody has a solution yet.
SPEAKER_00 (51:43):
Not yet, but it'll get there.
SPEAKER_03 (51:45):
Well, you know, and I I do handle a lot of products
out of Denmark, so I've gottento know some people in Denmark,
and they really don't have any.
I figured if anybody, Denmark,somebody over there would have
something, but well, there is aum there is a product sensitive.
SPEAKER_00 (52:00):
I thought it came out of Denmark.
Um, it's called the Nobi lamp,the no N O B I, and it's a
ceiling lamp, but it's also uh amotion detector.
Um and I think it's also avoice, um, you know, you can you
can talk to it and connect withpeople, but it's just a ceiling
(52:22):
lamp.
Now I'm not sure if it'savailable in the US.
That's the thing, but I thinkit's from Denmark or somewhere
the Netherlands.
I I'm not sure, but N-O-B-I, umsmart lamp.
And what I liked about it wasthat it didn't, like you said,
it doesn't look, it just lookslike a ceiling lamp.
SPEAKER_01 (52:42):
Right.
You know, and um yeah, yeah, butit has that detection.
SPEAKER_00 (52:47):
And obviously, you know, whoever is the other
person on the on the app orwhatever, um, you know, then
that person also has to, youknow, be cognizant enough to
take a look at that app everynow and then or get the
notification.
SPEAKER_03 (53:03):
Hopefully, there'll be enough notification.
SPEAKER_00 (53:05):
Right, get the notification.
So, I mean, you're right, it'snot perfect as of yet, but who
knows?
Maybe you guys will come up withthe next uh pet rock for
seniors.
SPEAKER_03 (53:15):
Yeah, yeah.
That would be, you know, it's amatter of getting it our ideas
and concepts to the rightperson.
SPEAKER_00 (53:21):
That's right.
That's it.
That's it.
Um that's it.
Um, well, I think that I mean,accessible living Atlanta is an
awesome service.
I think we're so lucky.
I'm very lucky to be living inthe Atlanta area to have you
guys close by.
Um, I should have you comeassess my home.
Check it out.
SPEAKER_03 (53:41):
Well, there's a there's a lot of remodelers who
who do accessibility, but therethat's all we do is
accessibility.
SPEAKER_00 (53:49):
Yeah, there's a lot of remodelers that do it, but
not everybody does it well, andnot everybody does it with a
team, you know, where you giveextra services, you know, like
Rick was saying, you always tryto go above and beyond.
Um, so I really like I reallylike, I think that's so
important.
Um have you guys heard of thevillage model or the village
(54:12):
movement?
SPEAKER_03 (54:14):
Yes, but you might have to remind me.
I've heard of it.
SPEAKER_00 (54:17):
Yeah, is there one in Atlanta?
Um, it started in the Northeast,I think, in Maryland, or I'm not
sure.
Anyway, basically what it is isum a group of people in uh let's
say a 10 mile radius, you know,um you join the group, the
village, whatever you join thatgroup, and I think you pay a
(54:38):
monthly fee or yearly fee.
And in that group, the thepeople in that group then in
that area, they help each other.
Um, so if there's a carpenter, aretired carpenter living in that
area, he'll help other people inthat group.
If there's uh someone who candrive, he'll help people in that
group.
So it's a way for you to stay inyour home, but at the same time
(55:02):
live in uh, you know, get thehelp like you would in a
community.
And some of them are um wealthyenough or however it works that
they actually hire a physicianor a physical therapist to come
and do home therapy or home, youknow, medical care or whatever.
(55:22):
Um so I I like the idea.
I just didn't know if there wasone here in Atlanta because that
would be another.
SPEAKER_02 (55:28):
The closest thing to that Esther would be next door.
SPEAKER_00 (55:32):
Yes.
The the next door, you mean thatlittle uh online?
SPEAKER_01 (55:37):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (55:37):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (55:38):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (55:39):
It's something like that, only it's a specific group
of people.
And I think what you're payingfor is are the services that
everybody contributes.
SPEAKER_03 (55:51):
Now Dunwoody was doing something of that, but it
you it was uh you paid a fee andit's the uh concierge kind of
concept.
SPEAKER_00 (56:00):
Okay, yeah.
I mean, you know that I think isvery important, the concierge
system.
Um, I think a lot of seniorsdon't take advantage of it as
much, although it may bechanging.
Ever since COVID, I think moreand more people are accustomed
to getting services delivered,things you know right.
I I like that idea.
(56:20):
I I use it a lot.
Yeah.
Um I think it's great.
I think you guys are doing anamazing job.
SPEAKER_01 (56:27):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (56:28):
And um, yeah, anything that I can do to help
you, I let let me know.
SPEAKER_03 (56:32):
Well, we do a lot of presentations, I do a lot of
lunch and learns and andpractices.
So if you come across somethingwhere you would like to uh uh
partner up, all right, you canlet me know.
We'll we'll do the same.
SPEAKER_00 (56:45):
Sounds good.
Yeah, that sounds great.
SPEAKER_03 (56:48):
For letting us participate.
Yeah, this was fun.
This was fun.
SPEAKER_00 (56:51):
Oh, sure.
Anytime.
And if you guys have anyquestions about, you know, the
internet or your website oryeah, um article writing or AI,
feel free to let me know.
If I know it, I'll I'll tell youwhat I know.
And if I don't know it, I'lllearn it and tell you what I
know.
SPEAKER_03 (57:09):
She was talking about Opus.
Yeah, put that down.
Yeah, yeah, that sounds reallyneat.
SPEAKER_00 (57:16):
Yeah, that's a great tool to just throw in your video
and then have it slice it upinto pieces and then you just
submit it.
Right.
Um, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (57:25):
Rick, we'll um we're Esther, we'll we'll pick a date,
we'll meet in Swane.
SPEAKER_00 (57:30):
Oh, I love that.
We have a brand new restaurantopening up with international
tapas.
SPEAKER_03 (57:36):
Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_00 (57:37):
So yeah, we'll check it out.
I'll uh I'll send an Uber foryou guys.
SPEAKER_02 (57:43):
You're gonna send an Uber up to LAJ?
SPEAKER_00 (57:47):
Well, LAJ, okay.
Well, that's a little far.
Yeah, that's a little far.
Maybe we can meet a quick waybetween LAJ and uh Swanee.
SPEAKER_02 (57:55):
I'll meet Dennison Tucker, then you uh that that'll
work.
SPEAKER_03 (57:58):
Maybe either all of us meet in Swanee.
SPEAKER_00 (58:01):
Yeah, I guess so.
I guess I can go across country,Rick.
SPEAKER_03 (58:05):
I guess thank you.
I sure we appreciate this time.
SPEAKER_00 (58:08):
Thank you guys so much.
I appreciate your time.
I'll see you all later.
SPEAKER_03 (58:12):
Have a good day.
SPEAKER_00 (58:13):
Yeah, you too.
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