Lafayette Resident Opens Business To Help Senior Community

Colleen Elliott, a 53-year-old Lafayette resident, worked in the healthcare industry for over 25 years. Right after college, she started working in a long-term care facility and had a passion for working with seniors and their families.

During her career, she has worked with hospital systems as well as senior living communities, home health, and hospice. She spent the past seven years working in an equine health business she co-founded - a very different experience than what she was used to.

Just prior to the pandemic, Elliott decided to close her business and get back to a focus in the healthcare space. She just missed working with seniors and knew she had more to offer in that industry. She came across Seniors Helping Seniors, a home care provider that prioritizes hiring active seniors to provide care services to their less-active counterparts and immediately knew the brand aligned with what she wanted to do in the next chapter of her career.

Elliot bought Seniors Helping Seniors and is offering services in all of Boulder County as well as the Broomfield-to-Brighton areas. She is excited to get back into the industry where she started and be able to provide care to seniors in the area.

She wants to make a difference within the senior community not only with the services offered by her business but the job opportunity it gives seniors who still want to be active. She wants her business to be known for the high-quality and compassionate caregivers it has.

• She spent most of her career, over 30 years, in health care.

• She started working with seniors, running long-term care facilities.

• She fell in love with working with seniors, families, and everyone else working together in the healthcare space.

• She see the opportunity to help seniors, in such a vulnerable community, as a gift.

• She worked for a large not-for-profit healthcare system that included hospitals, physician practices, as well as senior living communities, and home health.

• She loved working for a big system, but also missed being part of direct care and impact in her community.

• In the last six to seven years, she launched a business in something completely different, an equine business.

• Right when the pandemic hit, they decided not to continue the business for a variety of reasons, but she really missed the healthcare space.

• She knew that was her calling, and she started looking to come back into that work.

• She searched all types of companies/jobs involved with the senior community.

• She came across SHS and fell in love with the concept of older adults who want to continue to help and stay active in the community, and those who need help and want to stay home.

• She understand the challenge of keeping our loved ones safe and comfortable at home.

• SHS really takes care of the caregivers and the clients.

• They tap into the idea of creating job opportunities for older adults who still want/need to work while having flexibility with their schedules and doing something meaningful, and that really pulled her toward them.

• She want to help seniors that are looking for us as a job opportunity and the ones who need to be taken care of.

• We need to take care of the caregivers, and she believe having older adults as caregivers is great.

• She want to make a difference for seniors in our community, the caregivers and the clients.

• She want to create an organization that is a place where people enjoy working in and feel taken care of.

• She want to be known for high-quality and compassionate caregivers we have and the services we provide.

• She want to grow the business significantly throughout the state and become a collaborative partner in our community to keep providing all the services our seniors need.

• She really feel like this is the work she’s supposed to do.

• She started in this space, working with seniors from the beginning of her career when she was straight out of college and fell in love with it since.

• Now being back in this industry is a full-circle moment.

• She want to be part of the community we’re serving.

• Do your research.

• Talk to other franchisees and ask questions.

• Research similar franchises and make comparisons.

• Understand the commitment required.

• It isn’t a part-time job; there’s a lot to learn and do.