A local company providing home assistance for older adults is expanding to Washington state after opening two years ago.
Hoʻokele Health is an in-home assistance program that provides frequent in-home visits at an affordable cost. As part of its expansion, it will change its name to Vivia by Hoʻokele Home Care.
The company allows its clients to be mostly independent. A care provider conducts short but frequent visits to help with simple tasks such as medication reminders, helping with showers and cleaning. Each provider has an average of 20 clients.
"There’s just not enough caregivers to serve the number of seniors today. You call most home care agencies today there are long waitlists. You can’t get people to come right away. There’s just not enough caregivers," said Dew-Anne Langcaon, the CEO of Vivia by Hoʻokele.
Langcaon thought of a way to reach out to many older adults without overworking her employees.
"So the first thing we asked ourselves is, 'How can we create an attractive job for caregivers and really attract people that like doing caregiving as a career?' You know, not just a part-time job to get extra money. That people really gonna care about the seniors," Langcaon told HPR.
Vivia will begin operating in Washington in January.
