Services like Uber and Lyft brought a major shift in the way Americans get around. Now, a Virginia company hopes to help a rapidly aging population stay home. The service is called Naborforce – like laborforce with an “N,” and it’s already helping senior citizens in Richmond, Charlottesville, Williamsburg and Hampton Roads to get the help they need without moving to assisted living. Richmond resident Paige Wilson got the idea from her mother.
"I started Naborforce after my mom gave up driving and all of a sudden lost access to some of the things that brought her joy," Wilson recalls. "I had a full-time job and a teen-aged daughter, and I just needed back-up."
Her mom didn’t need medical care or even assistance with personal hygiene.
"We just needed somebody to get her to the beauty parlor or come over and re-program the remote."
Naborforce matches carefully vetted people with seniors who can’t manage everything alone.
"We have people all the time who call in the morning about some little thing," Wilson explains. "Maybe they need to get to the post office or have an extra set of hands around the house, and we can come for as little as an hour, and that’s all anyone is committed to. They don’t have to sign a contract."
Clients pay for the service, but Wilson says nabors get more than money.
"This is a great opportunity for them to add a little bit of supplemental income and purpose. There are all kinds of statistics around how purpose improves your health outlook. We’re bringing joy, and spreading joy and inspired by joy, and my mother’s name was Joy.
And nabors like the fact that they’re not locked into a 9-5 job.
"Nabors are mostly empty nesters and retirees and they've got total felxibility, so they could work two afternoons this week, and then be gone, taking care of grandkids for a month, and be back."
Wilson hopes her company can help other women who might otherwise be forced to give up their careers.
" About 60% of people who quit their job over caregiving are women taking care of their parent.
And she thinks Naborforce is taking off at an important time in history.
"The number of people turning 80 is tripling in the next three decades. I’m part of it. They call it an age wave. Eleven thousand baby boomers are turning 65 every single day," Wilson says. "Literally the number of caregivers is dropping in half. Families are smaller. They’re more dispersed, so there are really fewer places for clients to reach out for that help."
Paige Wilson isn’t the only one who likes this idea. Venture capitalists in Silicon Valley have announced plans to invest $9 million so Naborforce can expand to other parts of the state and the nation.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
