BOBIcares co-founders Ben Gullickson and Alison Bowers working at their Berwyn “office” – her kitchen table.
A new kind of matchmaker – pairing families with on-demand caregivers for seniors – just launched on the Main Line.
BOBIcares helps “families and caregivers choose each other directly, almost like a dating app,” explains co-founder Alison Bowers, who lives in Berwyn. “The result is elevated, intentional care that feels more personal than traditional home-care models.”
Wesley and Maddie Collins with their parents, Alison Bowers and Aaron Collins. Bowers knows firsthand the triple demands of work and caring for children and an impaired parent.
BOBIcares promises flexibility and speed – no minimum hours, no set schedule, no waiting lists for part-time caregivers.
“We know that by the time folks tend to ask for help, they need it ASAP,” Bowers says.
She and business partner, Ben Gullickson, who became BFFs working together at Apple, created the platform after bemoaning the stresses of the sandwich generation, i. e. folks squeezed between by competing needs of their children and their parents.
The company is named for Bowers’ late father, Bob, who was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s in 2018. Bowers admits she was “underwater” during the five years she helped care for her father while she worked for Apple and parented her own young children. “I left corporate life to build the care solution I wish existed when we needed help.”
Bob Bowers with his granddaughter and Alison Bowers’ daughter, Madeleine Collins, in 2018 and with his grandson, Wesley, four years after his diagnosis with early cognitive decline.
BOBIcares is assembling a fleet of thoroughly vetted “standout care partners” from newbies to longtime pros. “Our goal is to find the best existing caregivers and also to attract non-traditional caregivers who might be caring for others in other aspects of their lives – teachers, stay-at-home parents, nurses, etc. – but do not necessarily have previous professional experience with senior in-home care,” Bowers says.
Caregivers serve as companions, handle light housekeeping and cooking, run errands and drive to appointments. Fees for caregiving start at $40/hour.
For now, BOBIcares serves the Main Line and suburban Philly. The plan is to help a small group of families over the next several months for proof-of-concept and to fine-tune services and operations.
Contact BOBIcares at 267-664-2997 or email [email protected].
[…] Juggling work, kids and care for older parents? Berwyn-based BOBIcares wants to help. […]