We’re all getting older. You’ll be five minutes older once you finish reading this article. Time marches on and many face the prospect of marching on alone in their later years. That possibility is especially acute in Florida’s LGBTQA+ community where snowbirds and retirees make for an older population. While retirement communities and assisted living facilities are everywhere down here, many want to stay in their homes but find it harder with each passing year. This is where Home Helpers of South Broward County comes in.

They specialize in bringing quality and compassionate in-home care to people who want to stay in their home but need help. Home Helpers CEO Greg Brown saw the crisis and it hit home with him. “In the gay community our peers are dying and being left alone with nobody to help.” He told OutClique the COVID crisis brought him to a crossroads in his own life. “When the pandemic hit I decided to go out on my own. I wanted to help people, and where do people need the most help? In-home care, with an aging population, is where people need help and where people need services provided to them.”

Brown knew Broward County fit that bill. Many retire here and the first ten years are retirement are great, but the second ten years and more people find they need help. “They need a lot of assistance. I was looking for people to try and help them.” Brown sees the need everyday and makes personal connections with his clients. “I’m working with a client right now, he had four children and three passed away. He’s 101 years old, he’s outlived his children and doesn’t have anyone to help him. He doesn’t want to go into assisted living.”

Brown says all his caregivers must be vaccinated with proof, wear a mask if the client wants, and take regular temperature checks. When people look for care for themselves or loved ones, he says things to look for include someone you can trust and will help with basic activities, and there’s one trait that matters above all others. “Being compassionate with them. The key thing is finding someone who’s compassionate and trusting.” 

“As we’re aging, who’s going to be there to take care of us? We need to look at our own community, dig deep and figure out how we’re going to be there for one another.”