Our Story
Article by J. Ann Faircloth, Photography by David Kirk
Caring for your aging parents or loved ones can be stressful, especially if you are balancing a career and family. And there may be many additional factors to add to that stress. What if you and your parents are separated by hundreds of miles, and you can’t be there everyday? What if your parents have health or mobility issues that make even simple tasks challenging? Who would you trust to care for your parents or loved ones? It would take a special person to know how to offer a solution.
Ten years ago, Julia Anders did not expect to be that person, but after being laid off from a job she loved, she found herself at a crossroads. That is when fate intervened.
“My husband’s Aunt Helen lived in Plymouth, Indiana, and was almost 90 years old,” says Julia. “She was mentally sharp, loved IU basketball and knew which banks had the best rates on her CDs, but unfortunately, she was stricken with macular degeneration. When she could no longer drive, she lost a lot of her independence.”
Julia and her husband, Matt, tried to visit her every Saturday to help with housekeeping and bill paying.
“We knew if our aunt needed help, there had to be many others in the same situation,” Matt adds.
When Helen passed away, the Anders received a small inheritance. Matt was searching for business opportunities and came upon the Comfort Keepers franchise. Comfort Keepers offers two levels of care: companion care, which provides assistance with those tasks that keep the household running, such as housekeeping, meal preparation, grocery shopping, laundry and transportation. The second level of care is personal care, which is for clients who need assistance with bathing, toileting or transferring. Services are available by the hour, and Comfort Keepers offers 24-hour care, as well as live-in care.
After the Anders realized that Comfort Keepers would allow them to indulge their love for seniors, they began to believe that this could be not only a business but also a ministry. So they decided to move forward. Matt kept his job and Julia launched the business.
“I applied for a $15,000 line of credit and that is what we used to start the business,” explains Julia. “One of my favorite quotes is from Mark Twain. He said, ‘All you need is ignorance and confidence, then success is sure.’ I guess I had both.”
The Anders named their new business Leap of Faith Enterprises Inc. and opened on September 1, 2001.
“I have learned so much over the past eight years about senior care and about the needs of seniors and their families,” Julia says. “I already knew that babies can die from ‘failure to thrive’ if they don’t receive enough affection and attention; if they are not held or touched enough. But seniors can also be diagnosed with ‘failure to thrive’ for the same reason. I find that heartbreaking.”