When her mother fell ill, Rebecca Barr had a hard time finding assistance suitable for her needs. Realizing there are others who have been in the same situation, Barr decided to open Home Hearts Care to provide a variety of services to the elderly.

Home Hearts Care offers personal and incontinent care and helps with simple errands and transportation to medical appointments or with grocery shopping. The business also helps individuals perform light housekeeping, prepare meals and administer their medications. Other services, such as bathing, grooming and trips to the beauty shop are also provided.

Hearts Care is available to those residing in private homes, nursing homes, hospital and in hospice care.

"It’s a simple process to get started," Barr said. "Usually they call me and I send the paperwork out and one of my supervisors goes out to the home and evaluates the person. And within 36 hours, we’re ready to go."

With a staff of 26 certified nursing assistants, including registered nurses and licensed practical nurses, Hearts Care is on-call around the clock.

"I’ve been doing this since ’91, so I’m not fly-by-night. And neither are my girls. Some of them have been with me since 1998, so that says a lot," Barr said.

Locally owned and operated out of Barr’s home, Hearts Care is licensed by the state and is a member of the Better Business Bureau. According to Barr, the business received an A+ consumer rating from BBB.

"If I had an office, I would have to charge the little old people for the building. I want to keep the cost as low as I can, because these people haven’t seen prices like $10 or $11 per hour. So I operate the business out of my house and I’m going to keep operating out of it."