Julie Zimmerer started 24/7 Family Home Care and Veterans Services because she couldn’t find a caretaker for her father after his stroke.
“[My mother and I] went through 18 months of disarray and confusion, and after he passed away I was sitting at his service and thinking there has to be a better way than what we experienced,” Zimmerer said.
Her personal service agency has grown since she started in 2007 with three employees, and is expanding into services such as babysitting and housekeeping.
Zimmerer, among five honored at the Business Journal’s Excellence in Entrepreneurship Awards on March 15 at Hotel Irvine, said success is built on attention to details and providing clients with the right care providers (see other profiles, pages 1, 4 and 7).
Personalized Care
Zimmerer learned how to take care of the elderly and disabled as a chiropractor for 25 years and from her father.
“A guy hit him and paralyzed [him] from the waist down,” she said. The family took care of him at home for 39 years and it wasn’t until his stroke at age 78 that the family sought outside help.
“You have a paraplegic who’s also a stroke patient. My mom was 5 (feet) 2 (inches), and my dad was 6 (feet) 4 (inches) … he had catheters, bladder and bowel issues … and it was difficult finding caregivers who knew how to take care of him because it’s really a two-person assist job,” she said.
24/7 provides nonmedical assistance for older individuals and couples, including medication reminders, transportation, light housework, meal preparation and companionship. Services can be arranged for two to 24 hours.
It has offices in Canyon Lake and Dana Point, employs about 200, and has a caregiver list that exceeds 400 people.
The nonmedical home care industry is growing as the nation’s 65-and-older population is projected to reach 84 million in 2050, doubling in size from 2012, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And nearly 90% of seniors want to stay in their homes as they age, according to research by the American Association of Retired Persons.
Zimmerer said her company competes by staying focused on the individual needs of each family.
“We have to be chameleons … change with every single case,” she said, noting personality, compatibility, language needs, and even “good cook” requests. “We send [potential applicants] out and let [the families] interview and choose their own caregiver.”
24/7 conducts full background and reference checks, drug screens all potential employees, and trains caregivers through its certified companion aide program.
New Frontier
The company’s in California, Nevada, Arizona and Wyoming. It plans to broaden services to include caregivers for disabled children, and to offer babysitters, nannies, housekeepers and tutors.
Zimmerer said the company will focus first on tutors “because school will come around in September, and some people want tutors for the summer.” It plans to hire 25 for the Riverside, Temecula and South Orange County areas.
Senior care remains 75% of its business.
The entrepreneur also provides military veterans assistance services. 24/7 just renewed a five-year veterans’ home care contract with Loma Linda Hospitals.
Zimmerer said revenue on average increased $500,000 to $1 million year-over-year for the past four years.
Fearless
The youngest of five—three sisters and one brother—Zimmerer said she was always a go-getter and a problem solver. “Nothing I couldn’t do. If I put my mind to it, I’d always do it.”
She credits her father for her tenacity. “No matter what life throws at you, you can always overcome and contribute to society,” she said. She credits her mother for her sense of loyalty. “She stayed with my dad.” Her parents started dating in seventh grade, went to Orange High School and married before her father left for the Korean War.
She believes in education. She has a doctor in chiropractic and a master’s degree in biomechanical trauma and healthcare administration.
“Education is the key to success. With it, you can go anywhere; without it, you are stuck where you are,” she said, adding that her education allowed her to work and take care of her two daughters when her first husband died. She met her current husband roughly six years later when she was 30 and he was 29. They have a daughter.
Zimmerer thanked her husband when she accepted the award, saying he’s the smartest man she’s ever met, with a sense of humor—“and tall and good-looking, too.” The pair share a love of basketball and have traveled to 34 countries together.
They will be taking the family of 22, including children and grandchildren, to Hawaii and Canada.
The Aging Problem
Services provided by 24/7 are part of the healthcare trend toward precision medicine, accounting for environment and lifestyle. Cooking the right food and providing transportation for doctor visits make sense to improve wellness, but affordability is a challenge because Medicare doesn’t cover nonmedical home care.
“There’s no financing over this stage of your life once you are older and need a caregiver,” Zimmerer said. “Be an advocate for your mom, your dad or your child … only [those having to] do it themselves understand it by personal experience.”
