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Naborforce, a high-growth elder tech company with a trusted network of “Nabors” offering on-demand support and social engagement, is on a critical mission to bridge the gap between complete independence and home/companion care for older adults. And it’s award-winning services couldn’t come at a better time.
With 11,000 baby boomers turning 65 every day in the United States, the number of adults over 80 years of age is set to triple over the next 30 years. With this rapid increase, there is an alarming need for support to help keep older adults in their homes so that they may age gracefully in place. Adding to the demand for Naborforce’s much-needed offering is an increasing call for help from over 54 million family caregivers struggling to balance the demands of supporting older loved ones while attempting to maintain careers, family obligations, and their own health.
Naborforce founder and CEO, Paige Wilson, knows this challenge personally. Paige was inspired to launch Naborforce after experiencing the joy and challenges of caring for her mother while growing a successful career. Spending the bulk of her career in the large corporate sector, Paige previously held executive-level positions, including Treasurer and CFO of a Fortune 500 company. When Paige’s mother broke her hip, however, things began to change as her mother began needing additional support. Paige, who was raising a teenage daughter while working full time, quickly added an additional role to an already challenging schedule.
Paige says the requests were small at first, but they quickly began to add up. And while she was only five-minutes away, Paige realized that she needed help. But when she began looking for backup, she found a massive gap between light help around the house from time to time and more extensive care by aides and nurses.
Paige’s mom, like so many aging adults, didn’t need an aide or a nurse. “She just needed another me,” recalls Paige. After her mother passed away, Paige decided to apply this personal experience, combined with her extensive business knowledge, to help other families in similar situations. And she decided to do it with the same spirit and joy that her mother, who was appropriately named Joy, instilled in others. “We like to say that Naborforce was inspired Joy.”
Today, Paige’s company has emerged as the first and only technology platform to harness the strength of community to dispatch a network of Nabors on-demand in a collective effort to provide a friendly hand when needed so that older adults may remain social and active. Often referred to as “backup sons and daughters,” this carefully vetted network of Nabors is now expanding to new communities experiencing a decrease in family caregivers.
“An increase in older adults coupled with a dramatic decrease in family members able to help will represent a daunting challenge for the U.S. We must ask ourselves who is going to help us as we age,” emphasizes Paige.
Paige points out that by 2050 there will be half as many family members available to help older adults. “Throughout history, as people have sought support as they aged, they have turned to family and their community. But today’s families are more dispersed and sandwiched between raising children and caring for aging loved ones, and communities are not as close-knit as they once were. Gone are the days when it was simple to ask for a help from a neighbor – until now.”
Naborforce’s solution is powered by Nabors helping neighbors. Naborforce makes it easy and safe to make meaningful connections within the community. The network is driven by community members who represent the spirit of a good neighbor and the heart of a loved one.
By calling or scheduling support online, older adults and their family members now have an opportunity to seek help with the little things that keep those aging in place happy and healthy.
Making the Naborforce model work is a trusted network of Nabors creating human connection. Harnessing this growing pool of caring individuals is a powerful technology platform that makes it possible to connect an older adult in need of an extra hand with a Nabor ready to provide one. Naborforce’s matching technology is able to ensure that the right Nabor gets to the right client at the right time.
“Clients or their families can simply set up an account – which takes just a couple of minutes –and they are ready to start booking visits with Nabors,” says Paige. Older adults and their families can book a Nabor for as little as an hour – and there is never a contract. “Nabors are on-demand and ready to help with all those same little things that an individual or a neighbor would do, absolutely nothing medical. It could be anything from taking a walk, helping clean out a closet, helping set up an iPhone, changing an overhead bulb, a ride to the beauty parlor, helping prepare a meal, or simply sharing a cup of coffee.”
In a world where technology often interferes with human connection, Naborforce is instead leveraging technology to bring people together, harness the strength of community, and to bring back the neighborhood.
While technology serves as the unique catalyst for the Naborforce model, it’s the people – the Nabors – that keep families and older adults coming back again and again. “Our Nabors are community-minded and driven by a strong sense of purposes,” says Paige. “They are often empty nesters and active retirees looking for ways to help their community, and maybe a little bit of flexible income at the same time.” Paige says that Nabors can set their own schedules, with many opting to contribute just a couple of visits a week for an hour or two at a time.
Naborforce carefully vets every applicant and maintains rigorous standards for all of its independent contractors. They believe that diversity of backgrounds and the wide variety of experiences of its Nabor network can further strengthen the community. As Naborforce continues to expand it is seeking others who have passion for supporting aging adults in the communities served.
As a decorated entrepreneur on a mission, Paige and her award-winning business model are regularly celebrated as a solution to the pending aging crisis in America. Today, Paige serves on Virginia’s Commonwealth Council on Aging and has earned coveted spots in the TechStars program, won the AARP’s third annual Consumer Technology Association Foundation Pitch Competition, and has testified in front of the Senate Committee on Aging. And recently, Paige announced that Naborforce had closed a $9 million Series A financing round led by Translink Capital. Translink Capital joined existing investors Claritas Capital, The Artemis Fund, and TechStars.
“We have proven our model to be the perfect solution for active, independent older adults who don’t need a caregiver yet,” says Paige. “We are actively growing and are looking for passionate and caring community members who are ready to impact the lives of older adults in their area. We’re honored to make it possible to now easily secure a Nabor for on-demand support and a friendly hand. Together, we can offer joy while bridging the gap between full independence and companion care for adults at home.”
