By Rod Bacon
It’s a fact of life that as people age they often lose the ability to perform the daily tasks they once could. It’s also a fact that one’s home is what provides the greatest amount of comfort and peace of mind when dealing with life’s challenges.
Home Instead, founded in 1994 in Omaha, Nebraska, by Paul and Lori Hogan, is a non-medical senior care company with over 1,200 franchised locations in the United States and abroad.
In 2000, Nelson Carpenter, who had retired from a 33-year career in both the public and private sectors, became a Home Instead franchisee when he opened an office in Gansevoort serving Saratoga, Warren and Washington counties.
“He researched home care companies and decided Home Instead was the best one with which to partner,” said his daughter, Maureen Hopkins, R.N., general manager and co-owner. “I came on board later to help out in the office for a while, discovered I loved it and never left.”
Carpenter was director of employee health benefits for the New York City Mayor’s Office of Labor Relations and later deputy director of the New York State Governor’s Office of Employee Relations. In the private sector he served as vice president of Value Health, Inc. and national vice president of Prudential Healthcare.
After moving to the area he served on the board of directors of the Senior Center of Saratoga Springs, the Visiting Nurse Services Foundation of Schenectady and Saratoga Springs, and the Alzheimer’s Association of Northeastern NY.
