The poor economy is causing more seniors to make tough decisions.
Marge Thomas has been living in her Sun City home for 35 years.
She said her husband used to work for General Motors.
He wanted to come to Arizona from their suburb outside Detroit for the warm weather and to play golf.
He died eight years ago and Thomas found she was feeling overwhelmed by simple tasks like cleaning the house or running errands.
Both her daughters live in a different state.
"I needed help, I felt like I was wearing myself out doing everything, " explained Thomas who said she thought to herself, "I can't keep doing this by myself or I'm going to drop over."
She chuckles and takes a brief pause before explaining that she did investigate moving into an assisted living facility but found them to be too expensive.
She receives a pension from General Motors but knows the company is having some financial problems.
She added, "Well I'll tell you I got investments, but you know what I mean, it's not doing good at all."
Her financial advisor recommended she call
Senior Helpers.
She said she pays the company $20 an hour to have a non-medical caregiver help her three days a week for three hours at a time.
Thomas said is runs her about half the amount of the assisted living option she looked into.
Her caregiver, Leticia Sanchez, said she helps Thomas by doing some light cleaning like washing dishes or dusting.
She also drives Thomas to appointments and keeps her company.
"I'm her buddy, I'm her friend," said Sanchez. "So the time we spend together a lot of times is just talking."
Thomas said of Sanchez, "I just love her".
The company's president, Jim Podzius, said there is another reason why some seniors our choosing to stay at home.
"Lately, I've seen a lot of people are calling on us because they don't have the ability to sell their homes," said Podzius. "They are forced into staying in their home. They might want to move into assisted living and just can't do it financially."
Podzius also said his company is always hiring caregivers to meet the specialized needs of his clients.
Senior Helpers is hiring.
Get more information here.
