November Marks Our 10th Anniversary of Caregiving!

This November marks our tenth year of being in business as Cahoon Care – and what a decade it’s been!

Our humble origins go back to November 2010, when Margery Cahoon Parker, her sister Donna, and her daughter-in-law Carolyn Parker decided to make a difference by starting a company to meet a very evident need. Margery and her sister had recently experienced watching their mother succumb to cancer. As her disease progressed and she started needing more help, they had a difficult time finding good people to care for her.

Not wanting other families to have to go down the same difficult road they did, these three women decided to start a company dedicated to providing the very best caregivers possible. Their combined skill sets were complimentary, with Carolyn having experience in the home care industry, including managing caregivers in private homes; Margery bringing a financial background to the table; and Donna specializing in marketing and sales. Their passion for meeting the needs of the elderly and easing the caregiving burden on families has been the cause of our business’ success. We are in the unique position of being able to understand the clients’ and families’ perspectives very intimately.

To this day, we maintain an ongoing commitment to meeting caregiving needs in our own communities and beyond. Our Maine office came about because our clients who lived on the North Shore of Massachusetts wanted to go to their summer home on Mount Desert Island in Maine. To accommodate them, we went ahead and became licensed, bonded, and insured in the Pine Tree State. Our caregivers then escorted them up to Maine, where they were able to enjoy their property. We’re proud of our track record of going the extra mile!

On another occasion, the husband of a prospective Alzheimer’s client was concerned that if someone come into his home to assess his wife’s condition, she might reject the help. Instead, Carolyn asked him what his wife liked to do. He explained that she loved horses and tried to visit them every day. So Carolyn met her at the stable, where she talked to her about horses while performing her assessment outdoors. Carolyn’s efforts reflect how we enjoy thinking outside the box in our efforts to take care of people, accommodating needs in whatever way necessary.

The biggest challenge during our ten years of existence has undoubtedly been navigating COVID-19. We continue to take every possible safety precaution, including keeping our caregivers in “bubbles” to ensure they do not pass along any germs to their clients. We do our best to not allow any “cross-pollination;” in other words, if someone works at an assisted living facility, we try not to allow them into a home. Our most important goal is keeping honest lines of communication open between management, caregivers, and clients. If anything suspect arises, we make sure all parties involved are tested and/or quarantined. We are confident we will make it through this pandemic intact!

We wanted to share some other interesting facts from our first decade:

• Our caregivers have been able to meet the needs of clients in 71 towns and cities.
• Our clients have been wonderfully served by a total of 811 caregivers.
• Our biggest areas of geographical growth have been in Maine and on Cape Cod.
• The number one reason why families have decided to bring in our caretakers is because their loved one(s) were struggling with Alzheimer’s, dementia, or anxiety.

We are very grateful for a successful and effective first decade, and look forward to growing even more in our second decade. Thank you to all who have been a part of our journey so far by supporting our efforts and allowing us the privilege of taking care of your loved ones!