Company Helps Older Adults Cope With Change

Enjoys new career

ST. CHARLES (Tuesday, August 02, 2005) - Two aspects of Jay Couch's life have came together to send him into a new career.

"I had been looking to get into a company in which I would be involved with seniors. I looked at a lot of nonmedical, in-home care. I really didn't find it," he said. "With the population getting older, there's a need for services."

Meanwhile, he and his wife, Jeanne, have been dealing with her father's
digression into Alzheimer's disease.

"We saw the need for this. We saw that this was coming. We started looking for help before he (got worse). We could see the need for this from our family," Couch said.

While researching services for older adults on the Internet, Couch came across Spectrum Home Services, a company based in Midvale, Utah, that does exactly what Couch was looking for.

Spectrum, which was founded in 2000, started out as a firm providing cleaning, yard care, homemaking and maintenance services for seniors. It has since expanded into the general population, providing the same services for people who find life too busy to quite keep up.

On June 1, Couch opened his Spectrum Home Services franchise in St. Charles. He is Spectrum's first Midwest franchise. Couch said the firm hopes to open 400 units in the next 10 years.

"They offer all these services, so seniors can stay in their homes. People want to stay in their homes and not move into a nursing home," Couch said. "We're a one-stop shop. We can get the house cleaned, the yard cut, meals prepared. It's the whole thing."

Couch said that even if families want to provide this type of support for aging relatives, they often don't have the time. And senior citizens are sometimes reluctant to ask for help. "There's a real need for this," Couch said. "It's kind of a niche market."

Among the other services provided by Spectrum are light maintenance, such as installing a grab bar in a shower, doing laundry or just providing companionship. Spectrum can also help people who are relocating into a care facility.

Couch, of St. Peters, is also pursuing business with people with hectic professionals lives. He has joined the St. Charles, Troy and Lake Saint Louis chambers of commerce and has gotten involved with the Mid-East Area Agency on Aging.

Couch's commitment to the field has led him to pursue a master's degree in
gerontology at Webster University.

"I was in finance positions. I worked for Citibank and a food brokerage
company, in various financial positions. I wanted to find another avenue for my life," he said.

"I wanted a career change to take me into a different direction. This is very
fulfilling."

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