Lift Caregiving: Methods of Better Care

In February of 2011, Katie Gilstrap did what people who have an idea for a startup company rarely do.  She jumped.

While working for a community bank in Richmond, VA, Gilstrap became aware of a lack of support among family caregivers.  At the bank, she was tasked with creating a product to help caregivers financially, but in her research, she realized money wasn’t enough.

“A lot of folks didn’t understand the full extent of the services available to them,” Gilstrap says.  “The overwhelming response we got through interviews [at the bank] was, ‘Thank you for the response to our financial needs, but we have larger, more comprehensive issues here.’”

Earlier this year, Gilstrap and her colleague, Ted Ukrop, started Lift Caregiving, a resource that informs and assists caregivers on how to better care for their loved ones.

“We started Lift Caregiving because we realized that there was a huge need for caregiver support,” Gilstrap says. “We’re connecting people to the resources that will help make their experience easier.  We also help counter the isolation people often feel when caring for a loved one by allowing them to connect with others who may be going through the same thing.”

What Lift Caregiving provides, essentially, are methods to explore better care.  On the company’s website, caregivers can seek free advice – tips and insights in a multitude of areas including adult day services, end of life care, etc. – search for nearby providers, shop for useful products, and so on.

If a person, for example, cares for someone with Huntington’s disease, Lift Caregiving’s website would grant them a plethora of knowledge on how to provide better care, as well as offer support on how to manage their care and the stress often associated with it.

While the bulk of content on their site is aimed at those in the aging population living with serious illnesses, Lift Caregiving, Gilstrap says, has nowhere to go but up.

“We want Lift Caregiving to go as far as it can,” she says.  “With the exception of our services section, which is currently for Richmond-area residents only, everything on our site is accessible from anywhere in the world.”

Their expansion, Gilstrap says, will soon take form by adding more services to their website, hosting community events, and establishing firm partnerships with local businesses, as they did with Caring Voice Coalition in April.

“CVC’s work improves the lives of people across the country every day, and we are grateful for the opportunity to offer our resources to their network of patients,” Ukrop said in a prepared statement.

According to CVC, their partnership with Lift Caregiving will help expand the reach of free resources for family caregivers.

“CVC understands the importance of family caregiving,” says Taylor Scott, Marketing Manager of Caring Voice Coalition. “We believe that our partnership with Lift Caregiving is an important way to expand our network of support and provide much needed resources to the family members and loved ones caring for our patients.”

If Lift Caregiving has found early success in targeting a specific niche, it can be credited to Gilstrap and Ukrop’s determination in implementing their vision, a notion Gilstrap offers words of advice on.

“It’s important to do your homework [when starting your own business], because there is a lot of risk involved in an economy like this,” Gilstrap says.  “The difference in being your own boss is that you never really have time off.  You have to love and nurture your idea because it will always need attention.  We’re fortunate because there is such a big need for the services we provide.  The sky’s the limit.”

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