Wednesday, April 29, 2009

ElderCarelink, a national online eldercare referral service, has helped over 450,000 families find quality local eldercare resources to support their needs. ElderCarelink is continually adding businesses to its roster, so caregivers around the country can, by taking a brief survey, decide on the services they need and the best available businesses to provide these services.

ElderCarelink is happy to announce a recent addition, Mr. Handyman of Seattle to the referral service. According to Glenn Berkwitt, president of Mr. Handyman of Seattle, the company is one of few professional home improvement services that is able to handle a wide variety of home improvement tasks quickly and reliably, regardless of how small they may be.

Mr. Handyman currently serves about 1,200 clients in north Seattle, downtown Seattle and west Seattle. The company provides home modifications for the elderly including grab bars, ramps, widening of doorways and other modifications required to enable elders to live independently in their own homes.

"We employ office staff trained to understand elder needs and translate them into actionable tasks," Berkwitt said. "We employ, at present, three field technicians, all of whom have over 15 years of experience in the building trades, primarily carpentry. They all possess excellent communication skills. Our technicians have been screened for clean criminal backgrounds and we won't hire someone with even a bad driving record.

"We are winners of Angie's List Super Service Award in both 2007 and 2008 for consistently high grades awarded to us by our customers. We won the 2007 Seattle Magazine Readers' Choice Awards in both the "contractor" and "handyman" categories. We are licensed general contractors in the State of Washington. We are members of the Master Builders Association, are accredited by the Better Business Bureau, are locally owned and operated and are part of a national system with over 300 offices across North America.

"I was attracted to the field of home repair and maintenance in general because my father was a dedicated home handyman and I grew up at his elbow," Berkwitt said. "We are particularly committed to eldercare due to personal reasons. As our parents age, we have had to learn how to better accommodate their needs. Our employees are experiencing the same thing. It makes everyone more compassionate.

"We answer our phones from 7:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. We schedule fixed-time appointments, not vague spans of time. We work solely on a time and materials basis so our customers pay only for the work we actually do for them, our technicians arrive in a well-marked van, wearing a distinctive uniform and our vans are equipped with most regularly-used building and repair materials

"With Mr. Handyman, customers have a high level of predictability in terms of our reliability, customer service, commitment to high quality work and accountability for anything with which a customer is not fully satisfied. To use Mr. Handyman is like waving a magic wand at a problem and making it disappear. This is the experience that most of our customers wish for.

"In addition to our excellent customer service, we follow up with customers by phone or email to get their feedback on our work. If they are dissatisfied for any reason, we do our best to make it right. If an issue is due to our failure or that of materials we provide, we redo the work at no cost to the customer—our work and materials are warranteed for one year. We have been working to improve our education about improved methods and products for elder safety within their own homes. As the population ages and the desire to age at home increases, there is a steady flow of new ideas and improvements.

"We joined the ElderCarelink network because, as a licensed general contractor focused on smaller projects of a few hours to two weeks, helping elders to age at home has become an increasingly important part of our business. Many seniors can benefit from simple modifications to their homes that increase usability, accessibility, safety and, as it happens, that type of work is at the core of Mr. Handyman's mission," Berkwitt said.

ElderCarelink is an ideal resource for families seeking care. ElderCarelink services can be found here. Elder care companies interested in joining the referral network may contact:

George Novoson, Vice President, ElderCarelink

781-769-7295

gnovoson@eldercarelink.com

Carol Bradley Bursack

Founder/Owner

Minding Our Elders

Fargo, ND

701-235-5796

First Url: Minding Our Elders

Second Url: ElderCarelink