Seniors Helping Seniors - October 2025

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
This is News Radio seven ten WNTM. Uncle Henry here,
whether you once again on Ask the Expert. Today we're
going to talk about Seniors Helping Seniors. We have Brandy
Dillard and Alexis Castillo with us. Welcome back to News
Radio seven ten.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Awesome, Thank you so much, Uncle Henry.

Speaker 3 (00:26):
How are yeah, Thank you very much, Uncle Henry for
having us again.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
Great to see us. So how are things going at
Seniors Helping Seniors?

Speaker 3 (00:34):
Everything's going great right now. We're meeting different clients that
we're taking you know, that we're taking care of, and
we're also hiring caregivers left and right, so it's a
good thing. We're having a lot of applicants that we
really need to you know, we take their backgrounds. We
try to make sure that we get the right ones
for the client to match them.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
All right, So tell the listeners for people that have
never heard about Seniors Helping Seniors, tell us what it is.
What does Helping Seniors do?

Speaker 4 (01:01):
Seniors Helping Seniors is a non medical in home service
for seniors by seniors. So what that means by seniors
are our senior. Definition of our caregiver is those that
are age forty and up. We hire age forty and up,
and we put them in the homes where they match

(01:23):
different routines, different hobbies, different you know, locations wherever they
are in Mobile in Baldwin County. We match them with
the client so that they can build a relationship with
that client and they have similar interests so that they
build that relationship that should last and be a trusting, respectful,

(01:48):
compassionate relationship.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
Now you've told me who your caregivers are. What kind
of people call seniors helping seniors looking for help?

Speaker 4 (01:57):
So the type of people that call senior helping seniors
looking for help are two different groups, honestly. So we
kind of have the seniors that recognize that they need help.
Maybe they need help around the house with the activities
of daily living or instrumental activities of daily living such
as cleaning their house, lighthouse keeping, meal preparation, going shopping,

(02:22):
running errands, just companionship those types of things. Or maybe
it's a child of a parent that is looking for
help for their parents that may have dementia or a
physical disability that just preventing them from living their best life,

(02:43):
but they want to stay in their home and so
in order for them to stay in their home longer with.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
The best possible results.

Speaker 4 (02:52):
We want to provide that caregiver that allows them to
remain independent for as long as possible.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
So how great a need is there for service like this?

Speaker 3 (03:01):
There is a lot of need. Every time we talk
to somebody, they're like amazed how much there is a
need for this too, especially to have seniors to take
care of seating. And they're like, oh, what a great idea.
And so it's just perfect time. You know, we're just
taking care of all the seniors right now.

Speaker 1 (03:19):
Well, I want to ask you about the first group
you mentioned, Brandy, because you talked about seniors who realize
they need a little help. Not everyone has family nearby, correct,
Not everyone has neighbors that are interested in helping out.
So I'm sure some seniors are really in a fix
trying to figure out how am I going to get
a certain thing done?

Speaker 4 (03:40):
Yes, absolutely, so we have had since our last talk,
we've had people call us for things like, Hey, I'm
having a day surgery. I need somebody to come and
pick me up and take me to my surgery and
then stay with me and make sure that everything goes Okay,
we can do that. We did do that, and we

(04:01):
are doing that. And so those are the things that
we can help with. We also have clients that have
contact us and said, you know, I fell and I'm
you know, having some hard time, you know, cleaning the
house right now, I need some assistance, or I've been
in the hospital and I'm very weak and i need
somebody to come, you know, move my clothes from one

(04:23):
closet to the next or whatever. So those types of
things we're doing. We're helping seniors in their homes whenever
they realize, hey, I don't have anybody nearby, and depending
on your neighbor to do it is not always the
right thing to do. And we can do this affordably

(04:43):
and you know, respectfully and compassionately with our seniors and
with our caregivers.

Speaker 1 (04:49):
Now, before we go any further, I want to let
people know how they can get in touch with you.
So where can they find information online?

Speaker 4 (04:57):
So our website is sh Golf Coastal, So that's s
as in Seniors. H is in Henry Seniors shs Gulfcoastal
dot com. And then our phone number is two five
to one two zero two two two four eight.

Speaker 1 (05:15):
Okay, so you the listener at any time. You can
go online and get that information or call two five
one two oh two two two four eight for Seniors
Helping Seniors. So I want to understand the full scope
of what you can do for someone when when someone
calls Seniors Helping Seniors. Now, you start it out in
just the first few minutesture explaining that it's non medical.

(05:37):
So you're not going in and giving anybody medicine.

Speaker 3 (05:40):
Correct, We cannot give them medicine. We can't. We can't
put the medicine in their mouth. We have to either
give it to it in their hands or give them
a little cut with the medicine so they can take it.

Speaker 1 (05:50):
Okay, so you could, You're you're not really given medicine.
You're kind of reminding people.

Speaker 3 (05:54):
To take their medicine system medical reminder. Correct.

Speaker 1 (05:56):
But so other than that, though, what kind of things
can you do for someone when they We've already heard
this great example that you brought up of somebody that
they know they have a medical procedure. Maybe it's something
like a colonoscopy where they have to have someone there
to take them home, and you can call Seniors Helping
Seniors to do that.

Speaker 3 (06:17):
Yeah, correct. And we had the perfect example for you.
We had a client that called us, Hey, I need
some help. I have a doctor's appointment. I have to
get a tooth extraction, and I just need a ride
to the doctor's office. So what we did, We sent
a senior caregiver. They took them, They picked them up,
they took them to the doctor. The next they brought

(06:37):
them back. After eight hours, they brought them back, They
sat with them, helped them, you know, they fixed some soup.
Then the next day they still want a service. So
the next day the caregiver went back and sat there
with him and took care of them. Basically, you know,
made some soup, do the little lighthouse keeping, just making
sure that when he left, everything was straighted, you know,

(06:59):
it was in order.

Speaker 1 (07:00):
See, I have not yet had to call a service
like Seniors Helping Seniors, so I don't understand some of
the ins and outs of this myself. If somebody needs
your help for something like you just described, do they
have to do they have to use Seniors Helping Seniors
for a certain amount of time. Can I call you

(07:21):
for just one job like that, or do I need
to have you on retainer for several jobs.

Speaker 3 (07:26):
No, sir, we have a minimum three hours a week.
Oh okay, so yeah, so you can just call us, Hey,
I just need a ride to the doctor's office today
and we can do that for you. Or if you
need somebody, you know, give somebody a break, that their
caregiver to give them a break. A family member will
come in for the week, you know, just you know,
three hours to just block them three hours.

Speaker 4 (07:48):
We're also talking about you know, we have the opportunity
in our area where so many people come vacationing down here.
Maybe they want to break mom or dad with them,
but maybe mom or dad are not able to get
out and go with the family, and so maybe they
need somebody just to stop in and check in and

(08:11):
be there with the parent while the rest of the
family is out, you know, enjoying the beach or you
know the USS Alabama or the great sites around our area. Right,
and we're able to provide those caregivers to do that.

Speaker 1 (08:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (08:26):
Perfect example, we had a client that called in and said, Hey,
I'm were coming in from Kentucky. We're gonna need your
help with my mom. Basically she's in a wheelchair. You
know that we need somebody just to come in for
the week because we're gonna be there for the week
so we can enjoy have somebody just take care of
my mom, you know. From you know, I think it
was four hours a day for you know, five days.

(08:48):
So that's what we're planning to do. And we had
a schedule. However, at the end she said, well, little
I needed a more of a nurse. So since we're
non medical, we can't do you know, add or give
them medicine or anything like that. So she need a
little bit more than that than just you know, taking
care of them.

Speaker 1 (09:05):
Okay, So something something simple like I want somebody to
be with my mom during the day, yes, to keep
her company and maybe fix her lunch. That is something
that would fall right under your umbrella absolutely. What if
what what can what can somebody from seniors helping seniors

(09:26):
do to help around the house with.

Speaker 2 (09:29):
Mom so they can do lighthousehold chores.

Speaker 4 (09:32):
We do vacuuming, mopping, dusting, you know, dishes, cleaning the kitchens, bathrooms,
all of that stuff. We're not climbing on ladders or
we're not getting down on our knees and scrubbing the
floor or you know, cleaning out like all of your
light fixtures, but absolutely normal cleaning.

Speaker 1 (09:50):
Well, when you say light lighthouse camp, that would be
the kind I would do, just the light kind, just
the like kind. Okay, so just just the very basic thing,
the basic thing. What about what about mom has a
dog and can you help with a senior's dolls?

Speaker 4 (10:07):
Absolutely, and honestly we get asked that a lot. We've
got several clients that have dogs and they want caregivers
that are dog friendly, and so we have hired caregivers
that are dog friendly and pet friendly, and so they
will go in, they'll clean litter boxes, they will take
the dogs out for a walk, they will, you know,

(10:28):
make sure that the dog has food, water, all of
those things and just make sure that things are taken
care of.

Speaker 1 (10:34):
Now, what about what if my mom has memory care issues?
And that is a completely different level of service. Is
that something that you can help with If if a
relative has dementia or Alzheimer's and we're keeping them at home,
can you help with them as well?

Speaker 4 (10:53):
It absolutely is, and so we've been We actually went
to a conference just a couple of weeks ago and
had some education on dementia care and Alzheimer's and so
we actually are are making sure that our caregivers that
we are assigning to those types of clients have got
some sort of education and training, and we're working through

(11:17):
what type of education and certifications that we should get
for that, because we want to make sure that we
are working in a positive way with these dementia care clients.

Speaker 2 (11:29):
So we are.

Speaker 4 (11:32):
Focusing on some skills and positive reinforcement. And Alexis has
a great example of a client that he works with.

Speaker 3 (11:41):
Yeah, so I have a client. The caregiver basically his
wife told him, you have to go on vacation with me.
So they left about a month. So he visits twice
a week to take care of the client. And the
client basically has something you know where there's like a
brain bleed so memory issues anyway, so I'm the back up.
I went to sit with them and we're trying to

(12:03):
do things and we're just sitting there watching TV, and
all of a sudden, it was like his wife was
basically washing clothes. So I was like, you know what,
let's go do this. So we both stood up the client,
the senior. So we went over there to the laundry
room and we started, hey, let's take out the you know,
the wet clothes. Let's put him in the dryer. That
was an issue at one time at first though, because

(12:23):
he started putting them back in putting the dry clothes
from the dryer into the washer. I said, no, let's
look at this. Let's let's do it this way. Let's
let's move the wet clothes into the dryer, you know,
And then we started folding close after that, so we
put everything in the in the dryer. We took out
the dryer, put everything in the washer, started the washer,
and went to sit down in the living room and
took all the clothes that it was dry, right, We

(12:46):
took it in there. We started folding it and I
started helping folding, and I was like, you know what,
I can't do this. I don't know how to fold it.
You're doing a great job. And he was like all excited.
You know, he's just folding clothes. So we took it back.
We put him in the shelf, and then we brought
some more in and we folded some more clothes. So
I let him do it because you know, it's good
for wow.

Speaker 1 (13:06):
Just so so the guy one of the people running
the company is also right there exactly, you know exactly
what it's like to provide the care.

Speaker 3 (13:17):
Yes, we jump in when if we have this person
needed a male caregiver only. Okay, So the caregiver went
to vacation and there was nobody else.

Speaker 1 (13:27):
It's just me.

Speaker 3 (13:28):
So I went in for a week and a half
basically and sat there with a client. And I've done
that previously. So he's he's they're a great family, great client,
and we just we jump in, We jump into help
when there's.

Speaker 1 (13:42):
Well that has to give you great insight into what
your business is all about.

Speaker 3 (13:46):
It does, and I'm a firm believer in that. If
if I'm not going to ask somebody to do something,
if I can't do it, I'm a firm believer in that.

Speaker 1 (13:54):
And it's also got to be meaningful for you too, Yes,
because because you're you're you're actually seeing right, they are
in someone's home. How important what your business provides is
two people?

Speaker 3 (14:06):
Right, And to be honest with you, it wasn't easy
at first. We got kicked out of the house. Did
Gemine said you gotta go, you gotta leave. So we're like, okay,
so we stepped out and we came back in right
and then we started building that relationship. But now we
two three months now we're just coming in as a friend. Hey,
I'm back. What do you want to do today? You know,

(14:27):
I'm thinking, let's go walk down.

Speaker 1 (14:29):
Oh.

Speaker 3 (14:29):
One of the perfect example that we walked into the
garage and I was like, let's let's let's clean this up.

Speaker 1 (14:34):
You know.

Speaker 3 (14:35):
So he's just started putting things on the shelf. You know,
I've told him, I said, because he's a lot taller
than me. I told him, I said, I so glad
you're tall, because there's no way I could reach it.

Speaker 1 (14:44):
He just smiled. You know.

Speaker 3 (14:45):
It was just a great thing.

Speaker 1 (14:47):
So, so you you mentioned that you have the two
types of clients, some some that the seniors are calling
you on their own behalf, and then there's respite care.
How big a part is respect care? For you, where
caregivers need a break and you provide that break.

Speaker 4 (15:05):
It's definitely a major need in our communities and it's
something that.

Speaker 2 (15:10):
We're seeing more and more of every day. And I
think that.

Speaker 4 (15:16):
This is an area where it is that I think
that the children become the caregivers, and the children need
to be able to take a step back and let
the professionals come in and be the caregivers and go
back to being the children because the relationships do take

(15:36):
you know, it's hard on the relationships with the parents
and the child. Whenever they are the caregivers, and as
professional caregivers, we can go in and provide that relief
for them.

Speaker 2 (15:49):
That doesn't mean that they're never.

Speaker 4 (15:51):
Going to be able to help or whatever, but it
gives them that break to actually be the daughter, be
the son, be you know, just the family member that
they need to be for just that period of time
that they can step away and not be the caregiver.

Speaker 1 (16:07):
Well, it's enormously draining, it is. So what what services
are we not have we not talked about? Are there
things that you do that I haven't even asked about
that I have no clue of.

Speaker 4 (16:22):
So we do personal care as well, and so as
the condition of the client changes, we evolve the care plans.
So we go in, as Alexis says, I mean, we
jump in and we do whatever. But whenever we go
in and create an initial care plan, maybe that care
plan starts off as companionship, lighthouse keeping, you know, basic

(16:44):
things like that, but maybe it evolves because maybe there
is a change in condition physically where the person maybe
they've had a shoulder incident or something and they're having trouble,
you know, taking a shower or getting dressed or those
types of things. Maybe they are having trouble brushing their teeth.

(17:05):
We can help with all of that stuff. So personal care,
companion care, those are the types of things. Now we
also specialized services.

Speaker 2 (17:14):
We do specialized services.

Speaker 4 (17:16):
And one of the interesting things this week, we had
a call and it's a lady. She's just like, hey,
I need somebody to help. Come help pull some weeds,
and you know what, we can do that too. So
really personal care, companion care, pulling weeds, we got your car.

Speaker 1 (17:31):
Let's talk more. Let's talk more about specialized care. Now,
what would that mean? Does that mean that somebody calls
and you and you decide is this something we can
really do? Is it? Is it those kind of requests
it is.

Speaker 3 (17:45):
We try to look at the request that comes in right,
because we want to help the singer, right, We want
to take care because there's something that maybe they can't
do right. For example, with us, she said, pulling weeds, right,
you know that they have a yard man that comes in.
But she said, my yard man's not pulling the weeds.
I need somebody to come help with So we have
a caregar that's going to go there and help the

(18:06):
client with the weeds. We also have an example that
when cleaning up, talking about moving clothes around, the client
just needed, you know, take some stuff to good will,
right and we didn't have a caregiver. Brandy jumped in
to help this client into out her garage and take
stuff to good Will. So you know, that's basically our

(18:29):
specialized services. We're here to help you.

Speaker 1 (18:31):
But it can be just as basic as I'm going
to be out of town for a month and I
need you to stomp in and check on my mother
once a day. Yes, all you got to do is
step in for maybe fifteen minutes to make sure that
she's doing okay, that she's got food, and she's taking
her medicine. I mean, well, you'll do something as basic
as that, just check on them.

Speaker 3 (18:50):
We prefer to have a three hour block right right,
just to come in and make sure they're okay, feed
and make sure they're you know, they have everything they need.

Speaker 1 (18:58):
But this is the type of thing that you can do. Yes,
what else? Is there anything else that that you do
that I haven't thought of to ask.

Speaker 4 (19:08):
Well, I don't know that you haven't thought of to ask.
It's just that we build a customized plan around our clients, so.

Speaker 1 (19:17):
It'll be different depending on the person.

Speaker 4 (19:19):
Every single client that we have has a different need.
Every single client that we have has got, you know,
something special that they want, and maybe it's you know, hey,
I want you to make me soups once a week,
or hey, you know, can you make sure that you

(19:40):
call my daughter or you know, or that you communicate
with kind of what's going on.

Speaker 2 (19:45):
And we have a care app.

Speaker 4 (19:48):
It's it's it's our well Sky personal Care care app
where the families actually have access to the care plan
so they can see what's done every day. And we
try to communicate personally. Alexis and I call and check
up on our clients. We call and check in with
our caregivers because this is not just about caregiving. It's

(20:14):
about building relationships, it's about building a family. This is
our family. The caregivers and the clients are part of
our family, and we want to make sure that every
person is heard, seen and understood.

Speaker 1 (20:30):
Okay, we've only got a couple of minutes left here,
a listener. I'm going to come out with their phone
number and website in just a moment. So if you
want to write something, if you want to write that down,
you can be ready for that before we get to that.
Do you want to say anything about the people you're hiring?
Are you still looking for seniors to provide help.

Speaker 3 (20:49):
Yes, we're up to six hundred applicants. Again, we only
hired thirty thirty two caregivers, so we're looking for people
they just want to help, right, Retirees want to help,
or somebody just has a full time job and maybe
can work at night to make extra money. You know,
people like that. But you have to be caring, you

(21:09):
have to want to help another person. I'm not going
to hire you on it because you're looking for a paycheck. Okay,
just no way.

Speaker 1 (21:16):
Okay, Well, here is the information. Now we've been talking
with Seniors Helping Seniors Alexis Castillo and Brandy Dillard or
who you've been listening to here on news radio seven
to ten WNTM. The service is Seniors Helping Seniors Now.
The phone number is two five one two O two
twenty two forty eight. That's two five one two O

(21:37):
two twenty two forty eight to call Seniors Helping Seniors.
You can make a call and tell them what you
tell them what you what your need is and they'll
come up with something unique for you. Again. That's two
five one two o two two two four eight. The
website is s HS Golfcoastal dot com. That's s HS

(21:59):
Golf Coastal dot com for Seniors Helping Seniors. Is there
anything else you want to throw in?

Speaker 4 (22:05):
I just really want to thank your audience. We have
heard from several of your audience members and the encouraging
words that they share are great and it's always a
pleasure saying you know, hey, we heard you on the
Uncle Henry Show. We've got caregivers that came from listening
to you, and we also have clients that have told
us you know, hey, we heard you on Uncle Henry.

(22:27):
So thank you so much to your audience. Thank you
to you Uncle Henry. And you know, we just love
having the opportunity to come in here and share our
story with you.

Speaker 1 (22:35):
Well, if things go bad for me, I'm going to
come to work for you and then I'll eventually need
your services.

Speaker 2 (22:42):
Absolutely absolutely.

Speaker 3 (22:43):
That's a local fan. It's been a privilege talking to you,
and like I said, we've got we received calls from
you know, your audience basically hey, how can we help?
Can we do this?

Speaker 1 (22:53):
So we really appreciate well, great, and I appreciate being
associated with you because I can tell that you care
about what you're doing. So again, that website s H
Sgolfcoastal dot com s H s Golf coast a l
dot com for seniors Helping seniors MHM