1. An AHCS franchise uniquely lets you run a business AND give back to your community. Since 89% of seniors prefer to age gracefully in their own home, you’ll be providing a community service as you earn a living.

2. Home care is in demand. The demand for in-home care is growing with the senior population. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of Americans 65 and older is expected to  double to 89 million by 2050.

3. You’ll learn how to run a  home care agency the most efficient way possible. Why learn the business the hard way from trial and error or from another franchise with only a few years experience in home care.  Let our 30+ years combined experience help you hit the ground running.

4. We’ll show you how to profitable. Our earnings have increased every year since we opened AHCS’ doors nearly a decade ago.

5. You’ll receive daily on-going support  from the top. As an AHCS franchisee, you won’t be “supervised” by field managers with limited knowledge of the home care industry. You’ll be treated as our partner with  constant access to our owner who has a 20+ year track record in the home care industry.

6. The key to success in our industry is knowing how to recruit and maintain the highest quality and most experienced caregivers. As an AHCS franchise, you’ll learn our trade secrets.

7. The other key is knowing how to treat people especially your clients and their families. If you are a compassionate entrepreneur, you are special. We need you and will value your contributions to our company.

8. You won’t be expected to spend tons of money on advertising. But our in-house marketing department will provide you with lots of great ways to grow your AHCS franchise with a minimal dollars. Things like our E-news – “Home Care Today,  a social media presence, PR and more.

9.You could start your own home care agency, but then you will have to learn everything by trial and error. From getting licensed by the state to applying to provide home care to Medicaid clients, we’ve done it all. We’ll help you navigate through these steps, therefore alleviating unneeded stress.

10. A 7K franchise fee. Not 30K. If you are one of our first three partners, your franchise fee. We’re ready to grow and we’re looking for compassionate entrepreneurs to help us do just that.

For more information about an Alternative Home Care for Seniors (AHCS) franchise territory, please contact Franchise Marketing Systems:  (800) 610-0292

Q: You’ve (co-)owned your home care agency for over eight years. What do you attribute your success in the home healthcare provider industry? We’ve been able to grow and nurture a wonderful network of caregivers. We have over 100 CNA’s on our roster right now.

Q: How did you grow your network of caregivers? Over time, word of mouth leads them to us. The ability to retain their services is key. We’re here at all times to address their questions and concerns. We also create accountability from them.

Sweaters for Seniors "Fulton County" team left to right: Sharna Fulton, AHCS; Steven Hargrove, SCS Metro Atlanta, Missy Hirsh and Lexi Fields, the Galloway School

In one metro Atlanta county, there’s a socially minded school responsible for educating the next generation. Also, in that same county (Fulton) is SCS of Metro Atlanta that cares for the needs of seniors.

Last Thursday, representatives from both organizations met for the first time in a hallway at the Galloway School on behalf of  “Sweaters For Seniors.”

It was a really happy day, but not just for the warm sunlight that beamed through the school’s big windows. Or because of the melange of yellow and red trees just outside those windows as you overlooked Chastain Park. What made this morning special was like-minded people in various careers assembling on behalf of a common cause – to help keep Atlanta’s seniors warm this coming winter.

In attendance were Missy Hirsh, Assistant to the College Counselor for Galloway, Lexi Fields, Galloway Economics Teacher and Service Fair Director, Steven Hargrove, Director of Special Events for SCS and myself, Sharna Fulton, Director of Marketing of Sweaters for Seniors and AHCS. (As a friend, Craig Pigg accompanied Steven Hargrove to Galloway as he is considering sending his son, Cooper to the school next year.)

So why were three different organizations involved in the collection of 174 pounds of sweaters you may ask? (Missy Hirsh weighed the many green bags of beautiful sweaters made with heavy wool, cashmere, fleece and dry cleaned just for S4s.)

The answer is that we at AHCS, sought for the first time this year, to make “Sweaters For Seniors” truly a community endeavor. Why?

#1:  Schools were the best resource for collecting sweaters for seniors the past 2 years. We realized it was students were the most enthusiastic and truly what made the program special.

#2: We thought it would be a good way to connect Atlanta’s youth to Atlanta’s seniors. (After all, young or old, we are all one!)

#3: We wanted to put the spotlight on the senior service agencies and what they do for Atlanta’s elder population. We felt that by connecting schools with their same county senior agencies, we could make school communities aware of the seniors’ needs in their own neighborhood. What’s more, with blog and Facebook posts like these, we could further illuminate the existence of and what agencies like SCS of Metro Atlanta does to help seniors.

In conclusion, I’m really pleased with the outcome of this partnership for 2010. Galloway’s Missy Hirsh puts it best.  “I want our students to learn about thinking outside of their own box. Sometimes, there’s a stigma attached to not having ‘things.’ By collecting sweaters for seniors, our students were able to know there are people with needs and that it’s okay to understand that and to help them.

Thanks to the outstanding organizational skills of Steven Hargrove and his staff — Hargrove reports SCS just raised $504K last week during their annual black tie fundraising event –  the sweaters will have value too! When I approached Hargrove last summer as to whether SCS could find use for “sweater donations,” he responded “yes.” Within a few days, he had the perfect idea for the sweaters — to deliver them to  SCS’s 300 clients along with their Thanksgiving Meals on Wheels.

As we button-up collections for Fulton County’s seniors this year, we look forward to more schools joining us in the “4th Annual Sweaters for Seniors” coming next fall!

A "Create-A-Sweater" Pin-Up is decorated with crayons and tissue paper

Seeing how students and schools have collected the majority of sweaters with the most enthusiasm these past few years, we reconfigured S4S this year.

Sweaters for Seniors got a new mission, a new logo and a new tagline: “A youth based collection to warm Atlanta’s seniors.”

Finally, after months of planning, last Monday marked an important milestone in the history of  “Sweaters For Seniors!”

Various art supplies used to "Create-A-Sweater" at JC Magill

It was the day Principal, Crystal Collins invited us (AHCS) into JC Magill Elementary for her school’s collections to begin!

And not just sweater collections, but monetary ones, too.

Students at JC Magill have signed on to our  “Create-A-Sweater” pin-up program. They’ll color, design, exhibit and sell these pin-ups at school for 1.00 each. Alternative Home Care for Seniors will, in turn, match every donation from Magill dollar for dollar up to $1,000.00. All the funds and sweaters raised will go to Gwinnett County Senior Services, the nonprofit agency that helps seniors in need so they can continue to live independently at home.

As a “for profit” home care agency, that’s our mission, too.  So, of course, being able to collect even more sweaters and raise funds for seniors is icing on the cake. Or should I say embroidery on the sweater?

A JC Magill student drops a sweater in the box

Plus, the program will reach beyond Gwinnett county this year with schools like the Galloway School in Fulton partnering with us as well.

“It feels good knowing we’re able to connect Gwinnett County’s youth with its seniors through Sweaters For Seniors,” says Derrick Merchant, Co-owner and Chief Administrator for AHCS.  “After all – young or old – we are all one.”

Thank you Eric Hurst, CBS photographer for coming out to interview us and get it on tape. This is the 3rd year that CBS Atlanta has helped us get the word out about “Sweaters” thanks mostly to anchorperson, Tracye Hutchins. (You really must catch her morning show, Better Mornings! But I digress.)

Shown left to right: Eric Hurst, CBS Atlanta, Crystal Collins, JC Magill, Sharna Fulton, Alternative Home Care For Seniors

Also, we can’t thank Principal Collins enough for being the visionary leader in education that she is. Collins’ school recently partnered with ArtsNow, a nonprofit organization that encourages integration of creativity and the arts into the daily curriculum of GA Schools.  With the help of Pamela Millice, CEO of ArtsNow, Collins set-up an impromptu art table while we we were there. As Collins was interviewed on camera by CBS, her students were busy, in the background, creating some very beautiful and original artwork on their “Create-A-Sweater” pin-ups. With this kind of talent and creativity and commitment to community, who could ask for anything more?

Have you ever seen prettier sweaters?

Let us help you with the one you love. Introducing Respite Care! Are you a caregiver taking care of an elder parent or spouse? Could you use a break? We now offer individual 4 hour caregiver respite care with 48 hour notice. Call 770-736-7977 for a free telephone assessment.