Fast-growing national franchise started in Berks

When Kiran Yocom traveled from India to Lancaster nearly 20 years ago to enroll her daughter in college, she intended to soon return to her homeland.

After spending the previous 14 years in India doing fundraising work for the late Roman Catholic missionary Mother Teresa, Yocom’s plan to return home was scrapped, when she decided to shift her work to the United States, focusing on helping its elderly.

“America is the most beautiful country in the world, and most kind to people,” Yocom said. “But, America is poor with time management; everyone is running and there isn’t enough time for sharing kindness.”

She realized that families are busy with everyday life commitments, making it hard to spend enough time with their elderly relatives, and in 1997 Yocom created Seniors Helping Seniors, a nonprofit organization in Reading. Since then, she added a for-profit division which today is a fast-growing national franchise with more than 250 locations, including in Easton, in 39 states and England.

The purpose of Seniors Helping Seniors is to make it easier for the elderly to live happily and independently in their homes while alleviating stress on busy families. It’s done with the help of a hired staff of healthy and active seniors to provide clients with a variety of in-home services, including basic housework chores, yardwork, repairs and even transportation – and giving the client a friend and peer with which to interact.

“There was nobody out there doing this,” said Kiran Yocom’s husband, Philip Yocom. “We were using good will as our motto.”

About eight years ago, the Yocoms took Seniors Helping Seniors to the for-profit franchise world, hoping to find like-minded people who have the same vision of creating a loving, giving and caring community, but adding the opportunity for franchise partners to earn a return on their investment.

The Yocoms advertised in hundreds of magazines, including Entrepreneur Magazine, Franchise Times and airline magazines.

The couple first received responses from prospects in Connecticut and New York, which spawned the first two franchise locations for Seniors Helping Seniors, with a Lehigh Valley location established soon after in Easton.

Today, the corporate franchise office is based in Leesport, and the going rate to become a franchise owner is an initial investment of $45,000. Beyond that, there are monthly royalty fees determined by a percentage of the franchise location’s revenue. In addition, each franchise partner must obtain his or her own licensing and insurance.