A Woman Owned Business / August 2006
Comfort Keepers
 Joan Yeomans
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By Pat Lawrence
Joan Yeomans wants her clients to be at home. She’s made it her business to help them stay there. Joan is the client care coordinator and owner of Comfort Keepers, a people-helping business that provides highly personalized assistance to seniors and others so they can maintain their independence and quality of life.
Originally from Morgantown, the WVU graduate started with a degree in journalism, and continued her education with a Masters in Business Administration. She spent ten years in commercial banking with a variety of responsibilities, including business analysis for acquisitions and commercial credit administration. Later, as a stay at home mom raising two daughters, she enjoyed volunteer work. After she and her husband moved from Parkersburg to Marietta in 2000, they spent some of their time looking after some ‘seniors’ informally, when, Joan says, “My husband read an article about Comfort Keepers, a nationally franchised provider of in-home, non-medical care. He said ‘That would be perfect for you!”
With her business background, the first thing Joan did was complete an industry study, and, “I got Franchising for Dummies and read it cover to cover!” She says, “Comfort Keepers was head and shoulders above the other providers. And, they had the most sophisticated business model. Even more importantly, they were clearly focused on being in business for the right reasons.”
After the decision to join the national network of over 500 offices, Joan completed the paperwork and the training to open Comfort Keepers in Marietta. In August of 2004, they began providing the customized services that allow seniors, or anyone who needs a little assistance, to live comfortably, safely and as independently as possible.
Their services are as varied as the clientele. Joan says, “Seniors are the most diverse segment of the population. Some need just a bit of help handling daily activities, perhaps medication reminders, or sorting mail. Light housekeeping and meal preparation are common requests and so are help with grocery shopping and running errands. Seniors are more likely to eat when they can choose their own food. And, just the trip to the store, and maybe an ice cream on the way home, can be good for their spirits.”
Although most assistance is practical, like laundry or bathing, Joan says, “Sometimes, what’s needed most is companionship. No matter what their clients are looking for, she says, “Our goal is to help people stay in their own homes and maintain their quality of life.”
It isn’t that family members aren’t willing to help. Joan says, “But, adult children have their own lives, they’re in a hurry and everyone does things differently. Having the dishes washed a certain way or the towels folded a certain way or the bed made a certain way can become very important. It can be a major source of stress, not relief, when grown children try to help, but don’t have the time to do things just that way. Comfort Keepers ask, “What do you want done?”, “When do you want that done?” and “How would you like that done?” and that is exactly the way we do it. It is upsetting enough for a woman not to be able to put away her dishes, but it adds insult to injury when she can’t even have them put away the way she likes.”
The forty employees of Comfort Keepers in Marietta cover Washington and Wood Counties. According to Joan, “We have a very sophisticated screening process to find the right people who want to do the job for the right treason.” Besides checking for criminal activity and driving history, they perform a credit check to weed out anyone who might be desperate for money. They hire only 3-4 people out of 200 applicants.
Joan says, “We consider our employees very skilled, not unskilled, workers and we provide training and ongoing education to help them with their work. We look for intelligent, experienced individuals who know how to assess a mood, or a situation. We often hire ‘empty nestors’, women who have raised their own families and want to do meaningful work. We have male care-givers, too.”
Comfort Keepers will come daily, once a week, several times a week or stay around the clock. The average visit is about three hours and costs less than $50. Joan says, “We offer our clients the option of a comfortable, safe environment in their own home. We just provide the helping hands and feet to handle what needs to be done, delivered with great compassion.”
For more information, call Joan Yeomans, (740) 373- 4020 or (304) 422-4020 or email: parkersburg@comfortkeepers.com.
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