Barboursville-based Village Caregiving has grown from a single location with one employee to 13 locations in four states with nearly 800 employees.
By Kimberly Price
HQ 112 | WINTER 2021
As the population in West Virginia and surrounding states has continued to age, the need for affordable, quality home care services has grown exponentially. Village Caregiving, a locally owned and operated company based in Barboursville, West Virginia, opened in 2013 to meet that need and has since experienced tremendous growth and success due to its affordable services, commonsense business approach and dedication to client satisfaction and comfort.
Village Caregiving owners Andrew Maass, Jeff Stevens and Matt Walker, who met while attending St. Joseph Central Catholic High School in Huntington, each had a family member who needed home care services at one time. After doing some research, the three law school graduates realized that companies in the area did not offer the kind of affordable, family-centered care they wanted for their loved ones.
“I had a family member who was looking for the type of services we offer, and I quickly realized that options were not ideal,” Maass said. “I would call places, and no one would call back. I searched online for reviews, and the few I found were not positive. We were all discussing the need for these services in our community.”
Maass, Stevens and Walker opened Village Caregiving to fill the gap in the home services market with affordable, reliable, quality care provided by dedicated staff members who are fully vetted and have local ties. The company offers a variety of nonmedical services, including daily living assistance with personal care such as bathing, eating, toileting, grooming, hygiene and transferring, and can also include light housework, meal prep and transportation to appointments and errands.
In its seven years, Village Caregiving has grown from a single location with one employee in Barboursville to 13 locations in West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Pennsylvania and nearly 800 employees.
“I attribute our growth and success to hard work and dedication, a commitment to and investment in people and the development of a culture that prides itself on putting the needs of clients first, employees second and the company third,” said Walker, whose interest in home care began while watching his father, a physician specializing in geriatric medicine, care for his patients. “This formula has created a stronger, better company by securing consistent leadership and management teams that develop long-term relationships with families, employees and referral sources.”
Staff members are held to a high standard and are expected to provide the same exceptional care to clients as they would to their own families. “We strive to maintain a corporate culture that truly revolves around commonsense principles, such as treating other people the way we would like to be treated and doing the right thing, to put it simply,” Stevens explained.
“On a personal level, I think all of us realize that our clients are under a lot of stress and they are dealing with a situation that can become overwhelming quickly,” Maass said. “We have a real skill in talking through the care needs with families and developing plans that allow them to get back to normalcy.”
Since starting the company, the owners of Village Caregiving have taken great pride in offering services that families can afford while keeping their loved ones safe and comfortable at home.
“We learned that the area was mostly being serviced by national chains that charged too much,” Maass said. “We knew it would be a disservice to the people in our region to charge rates that would be out of reach to all but those with means.”
That’s why Maass, Stevens and Walker made a conscious decision in their business plan to limit the number of support staff in offices and to only make purchases and hires that promote efficiency.
“Andrew, Matt and I are heavily involved in day-to-day operations as owners,” Stevens said. “We’ve been able to keep overhead costs extremely low, which is precisely what allows us to offer the most affordable rates in the Tri-State region. We’re very proud of that.”
Clients of Village Caregiving are not required to sign contracts, make deposits or agree to hourly minimums, because the owners realize the importance of flexibility, Walker said.
“Village Caregiving is quick to provide solutions to families in difficult, stressful situations,” Walker stated. “We can often provide care on the same day a family calls us. We operate like a small business on a large scale and strive to be nimble and flexible.”
These flexible operations are largely due to the way Village Caregiving is structured. The company schedules backup caregivers in the event of emergencies or employee call-offs to ensure there is no gap in care for clients. The company also handles all tax withholdings, insurance, workers’ compensation and unemployment claims, which allows for additional flexibility.
Village Caregiving’s owners say that they understand the important role of employee satisfaction in providing quality, reliable care to clients, which is why they maintain an open-door policy and provide competitive compensation for all staff members.
“We know that the company would cease to exist if it were not for the people we send into the homes of our community,” Walker stated. “We really go out of our way to make the people that choose to join us feel like they are part of something special. I set out to treat everyone like an equal no matter how large the company may grow, because it all goes back to the golden rule.”
“We realize everyone wants to be appreciated and challenged,” Walker noted. “Helping a senior remain in their home near the end of life is a very rewarding role. We want to attract managers and caregivers that share this vision.”
Although the company’s commitment to its employees and clients has already afforded it tremendous growth, Maass, Stevens and Walker are currently enlarging their service areas in the Tri-State and are considering expansion further into the Midwest states as well.
“Our vision is to continue the steady and sustained growth we have experienced over the years by identifying and hiring talented and caring directors and staff at all locations, and to ultimately provide the highest quality possible in all regions of the United States,” Stevens said.
Maass said his favorite part of being an owner at Village Caregiving is receiving feedback from clients and their families. He said the reviews received both online and in person for all locations are overwhelmingly positive.
“My personal favorites are the handwritten letters that we have received over the years from families we have helped,” Maass said. “I love the idea that I helped provide a service that brought someone enough peace of mind that they sat down to personally pen us a letter. It really makes me realize that I am involved in something that does good for the community that I love.”
For more information about Village Caregiving, visit www.villagecaregiving.com or call 304-302-0707.
