Caregiving company opens location in Gastonia
While living with his grandfather in the early 2000s, Erik Drotleff developed a strong relationship with the older man.
"It just touched me, the people that we had come into the home and help him extend his life and live out his days at home," Drotleff said.
Now, Drotleff offers a service that will do just that.
Drotleff owns the Gastonia franchise location of Senior Helpers, a company that offers in-home care for seniors, as well as people who have disabilities.
"When I was kind of transitioning my career, this presented itself, it just seemed like a really good opportunity to serve others," Drotleff said.
Senior Helpers is based at 635 Cox Road, Suite F in Gastonia, but the company will send its workers into homes to help. They opened in January.
"We basically assist with daily life activities, such as bathing, dressing, light housekeeping, cooking, feeding, running errands, transportation to and from doctor's appointments, taking them on walks, doing puzzles or games with them, really everything that's non-medical," said Crystal Eldridge, director of marketing.
Senior Helpers serves mainly the elderly, but they offer services to "anybody who needs any kind of companion."
"It can be somebody who just wants some kind of company or help doing daily activities, to people who get released from the hospital and actually need somebody there to watch over them to kind of get around the house," Drotleff said. "It doesn't have to just be seniors. It could be people with disabilities that needed help around the community as well. It's not limited to just seniors, but that's the majority of it."
Eldridge said that they are currently seeking employees who enjoy caregiving.
"We're basically looking for people who have a passion for helping others and caring for the community," she said.
Reporter Kara Fohner can be reached at 704-869-1850 or at kfohner@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Caregiving company opens location in Gastonia
