Seniors Helping Seniors aiming to be premier home care service in Rock Hill area
Tisa Mullis came out of a three-decade career in corporate technology last July looking for a fresh start.
The former Babcock & Wilcox IT chief information officer wanted an opportunity in something that aligned with her passion for helping others. She wanted something that fully allowed her to be herself and live her faith out loud, which she felt robbed of in the corporate world.
Mullis found what she was looking for in December with Seniors Helping Seniors, a non-profit home-care organization for senior citizens.
The 55-year-old began her training to be a franchisee in January and started accepting clients in April.
“I was really happy with the decision,” Mullis said. “I had to invest and then open my own franchise location here. No regrets. It honestly felt like a burden was lifted because I wasn’t sure what in the world I was going to do at this stage of my life. It just fit so perfect for who I am.”
What is Seniors Helping Seniors?
Seniors Helping Seniors was founded by Kiran and Philip Yocom in Pennsylvania in 1998 and now has franchises across the country.
The main goal of the service is to pair older, more active adults to help and assist in the daily lives of their less-active counterparts.
The Rock Hill franchise is the third in the state; the other two are located in Mount Pleasant and Aiken.
Mullis said she serves clients in York, Lancaster and Chester counties.
“It helps people build a very strong relationship and bond very quickly,” Mullis said. “When you have like when you’re working with your co-workers, and there’s someone who you really gel well together with, your work performance exponentially improves. And that’s the same concept when you’re able to pair people together in a home-care setting, that relationship and that bond exponentially improves the quality of life for that senior.”
The mission for the Rock Hill agency is “to elevate life,” as Mullis wants caregivers to improve their clients’ ability to “progress through whatever condition or state that they might be in.”
Mullis said her target age for recruiting caregivers is 50 and over; the average age of her 13 caregivers is 58.
One of those caregivers is 53-year-old Marjorie Burdette, who said her story to finding Seniors Helping Seniors was similar to Mullis’s.
A former stay-at-home mom, Burdette went back to college at York Tech to become a medical assistant, graduating in 2020. After graduation, she worked in dermatology but didn’t feel like she was applying the positive hands-on impact that she went back to school for.
Burdette left her job after two years and suffered a nasty fall shortly after, which resulted in a broken right arm that needed surgery and physical therapy. Burdette has had other major physical injuries, and she used her experience to help the clients she cares for.
“I have had surgeries and broken bones of different kinds throughout my life,” she said. “Broken bones started at like six years old, and surgeries started in high school. I’ve had all kinds like appendectomy, gallbladder. I had two Cesareans. I had surgery on both of my feet before I went back to school this last time at six months apart. I couldn’t be working during that time, and I was also not capable of doing a lot of things either on my own.”
“I do know what it’s like. I can have empathy in the recovery and physical therapy as well as knowing what it’s like to not be able to do things for yourself.”
Mullis said her franchise offers care from running errands to full 24/7 and overnight care at an hourly rate.
The future of Seniors Helping Seniors
Mullis said that her goal for the Rock Hill agency is to become the premier home care agency in the area. She also sees opportunity to expand into surrounding counties in the state.
There are currently eight clients with the Rock Hill franchise, with five to six more “close prospects” and 25 other potential clients who called as they explored their options.
With the U.S. Census Bureau expecting the population age 65 and over to grow significantly over the next 30 years, Mullis said the potential for Seniors Helping Seniors is great for both the number of caregivers and the number of clients.
“In this part of the country, the stats are stronger, even for the South Carolina area,” Mullis said. “We know that demand is there. It’s there now, but it’s going to be stronger as the years go on. Over the next ten years, it’s going to be really strong.”
For more information about Seniors Helping Seniors, visit seniorshelpingseniors.com or check out the Seniors Helping Seniors Facebook page.
