The "sandwich generation" is comprised of those who must assist their elderly parents while also caring for young children.

Barth A. Holohan, 30, owner and President of the Richmond Heights-based firm that started this year, said the firm was created to make life easier for seniors by offering the services of caring and reliable companions.

The companions perform tasks such as taking a client to a medical appointment, shopping for groceries, doing laundry, preparing meals and more. The firm employs more that 20 caregivers.

Holohan began volunteering in nursing homes when he was a teenager and came to realize there were residents who didn't need all the services a nursing home provides – but had no other options. "I always enjoyed spending time with older adults," he said.

Many needed to go to retirement communities because of the loss of just a few daily-living functions, said Holohan, who later worked in health care consulting with Ernst & Young in St. Louis.

He then decided to get his master's degrees in Business Administration and Social Work in Gerontology from Washington University.

While in school, Barth worked for a sales and marketing consulting firm that focused on seniors, spending some time afterward working in the administrative operations of the Gatesworth Retirement Community in Ladue. He received his Nursing Home Administrator's license this year.

Holohan decided to start Home Helpers, he said, "because of his observations of the lack of non medical help for people in the community. "Roughly 90 percent of the population will never end up in a retirement community and are looking for affordable options to assist with their daily needs," he said.

His hope, Holohan said, "is to help people, stay in their homes as long as possible by providing assistance with tasks such as in-home companion care, morning "wake-up" services, shopping for groceries, transportation, errand services, laundry and linen washing, light housekeeping, bathing, dressing, meal preparations, daily- telephone check-up, evening "tuck-in" services, and even 24 hour care."

Fees for the services are $18 an hour, and Home Helpers home-assistance programs can be arranged to fit individual needs. "A Home Helper caregiver can be available on an hourly, daily or weekly basis, day or night," he said.

While many senior citizens take advantage of the services, Holohan said others can benefit from them, such as new mothers and those recovering from an illness or injury.

"We help people not just in their own homes but also people in independent or assisted living areas of a retirement center so they don't have to go into full nursing home care," he said.

The firm's employees, are thoroughly screened and trained, as well as being bonded and insured, Holohan said.

An additional service, called Direct Link, allows an elderly person, in case of an emergency, to press a small waterproof wireless button, worn around either the neck or the wrist, to be put in contact with staff, to send help or assistance based on the person's needs. Cost for that service is $34.95 per month plus a $45 one-time installation fee. The contract is month to month, with no equipment to buy, Holohan said.

He said in a society where family members sometimes live hundreds of miles from one another, Home Helpers can step in to "fill the roll of a good neighbor."

"We provide services to individuals that not only benefit them directly but also benefit the community and their extended family," Holohan said.

"We enable our clients to live healthier and happier lives, while remaining in the comfort of their own homes and familiar surroundings, but with less risk and stress than if they were left alone."

For more information on the firm call (314) 644-2267.