“Survey after survey shows that the vast majority of aging seniors want to remain in their own homes and the numbers are growing. And who can blame them? I’m going to want the same thing. My job is to support seniors who want to live life on their own terms,” said Karen DeLeeuw, owner and operator of Seniors Helping Seniors in home care in South Jefferson County.  

Living independently means solving the day-to-day problems and addressing changing circumstances and needs as we age. Getting to places, paying bills, keeping a home and pets, and most importantly staying emotionally and physically healthy can become much more difficult as we age. This is especially true without the support systems we had in place when we were younger and times were different. We provide a trustworthy and competent companion who can make staying in your own home not only possible but life affirming.   

Karen was inspired to open Seniors Helping Seniors home care services after she and her family helped care for her father, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.  “It took my entire family to help my father, Martin. We were fortunate that so many us lived nearby.  However, this is not the case for many seniors, which is why I want to help families who need to create a ‘second family’ have that opportunity,” said Karen. 

Seniors Helping Seniors services is the only in-home care provider that matches seniors who want to help with seniors who need a little help.  This peer-to-peer assistance allows seniors who need help to receive care from someone they can relate to and trust.  At the same time, seniors who want to help are able to remain active in their community and often form lasting relationships with the ones they are helping.

The senior providers who work with Karen offer many services including:

• Companionship
• Personal care
• Household tasks
• Pet care
• Help with insurance companies
• Safety and fall prevention
• Outing and trips
• Scam monitoring
• Nutrition support and meal preparation
• Medication reminders
• Mail bills and letters
• Errands
• Escort to appointments and events

As a public servant for over 35 years, Karen has dedicated her life to helping others and is excited to continue doing so for the seniors in her Jefferson County community. She was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and growing up in a military family, has lived in many different places throughout America. Karen has a distinguished career working in government and non-profit organizations where she received numerous awards and accolades for her work.  

Karen has spent the last 14 years working at the Colorado Department of Public Health, focusing on helping others to improve their health and well being by making positive life style choices the “easy choice”.  Many of her initiatives were responsible for Colorado being a recognized as a national model and Colorado’s programs being replicated in other states. She received a Bachelors degree in Social Work with Honors from the University of Wyoming and a Masters of Social Welfare from the University of California. Throughout her career, she has served on many national committees through the Center for Disease Control and was a member of the Board of Directors for the Directors of Health Promotion and Education in Washington, DC.

“With my unique background,” said Karen, “I know that the time to support seniors living at home is here. Each senior is a unique individual with individual needs.  Our role is to meet seniors’ needs and wants on their own terms. That’s why we provide more than services. We offer friendship, comfort and compassion because we are able to match seniors with caregivers with whom they can truly relate.” 

Seniors Helping Seniors home care has sites throughout the U.S.  The organization was founded by Kiran Yocom, who has a mission and a passion to help seniors live independently.  She leads the organization through compassion and caring for all.