Laurie Edwards-Tate founded At Your Home Familycare in 1984, when the space for non-medical in-home caregiving was not in the space it is today.
Founder & CEO
At Your Home Familycare
Edwards-Tate said she “started this business with basically no money,” but that the business grew fairly quickly.
At Your Home Familycare’s roots are as a nonprofit organization. About five years into providing in-home health care, Edwards-Tate said she was able to establish it as both a nonprofit and for-profit corporation.
In the past three years, the company has been growing at a steady level, which Edwards-Tate said she expects to continue. At Your Home Familycare has seen a nearly 19% growth in revenue from 2020-22, from $2 million in 2020 to $2.3 million last year. The company employs nearly 100 in-home non-medical health care workers.
“I started this business when the concept of aging services was relatively new,” Edwards-Tate said. “It spawned from another business, and I had done some research working with some local government agencies. I stayed informed about population growth and the need for care, especially for those in disadvantaged communities. I did it because my big passion is serving our community.”
As she has run her business, Edwards-Tate has also worked toward educating the world about home care needs.
She established a home care aid training program at San Diego State University’s College of Extended Studies and created an online learning academy for caregivers and home care aides. She is also an advisory committee member for Career Technical, Adult and Alternative Education for the Poway Unified School District. There she is working to create enhanced training opportunities for in-home care aides.
A Standard in Care
Edwards-Tate also initiated and developed the California uniform standards of training for the homecare aide field and is responsible for the integration of the term “Home Care Aide” into California healthcare industry jargon.
Home care aides provide assistance, support and supervision with daily living activities for people – typically seniors, veterans and those who are physically challenged, Edwards-Tate said – who want to remain in their homes or cannot go to an assisted living facility but want to keep their quality of life and independence.
Non-medical home care is that in-home caretaking devoid of medical or nursing care. It is focused on personal care needs such as bathing, dressing, grooming, eating and mobility. It also provides other needs, including companionship, socialization, shopping, meal preparation, housekeeping, transportation, protective care, counseling and money management – all things that can make life easier and more comfortable for those using the services.
“It is by far the most efficient and cost-effective form of support versus placing an individual in an assisted living or institutional situation, something the vast majority of families wish to avoid,” Edwards-Tate said.
In 1991, Edwards-Tate became a member of the nonprofit California Association of Health Service at Home (CAHSAH) and Edwards-Tate said her company was the first home care organization to represent CAHSAH before licensure requirements in the state of California.
“I had the opportunity to help develop standards of practice and helped popularize the term non-medical in-home care,” she said.
Rising Demand
Edwards-Tate’s attention to the needs of an aging population for in-home, non-medical care back in her company’s beginnings in the 1980s were prescient. Nearly 40 years later, the demand for in-home care is on the rise, and not just for those with medical care needs.
According to Statista, the U.S. home care services industry revenue in 2020 was $97 million, with 15 million patients. About 70% of those who use home healthcare services are 65 and older. A majority, estimated at 80% of those older than 60, want to live independently and with an enhanced quality of life.
Edwards-Tate said there is “a huge shift in health and medical care in general” with a de-emphasis on hospital stays and a greater emphasis on care on in-home and transitional care.
“We will need more home health care workers as the demographics show growth in the Baby Boomer population and with the continuing longevity of people, and those who want to maintain their independence and want to stay home,” she said. “No matter how much we do or grow, we don’t have enough to sufficiently take care of the numbers we will have in the future. We all will need help and support to accomplish that end.”
At Your Home Familycare, Inc.
FOUNDED: 1984
FOUNDER AND CEO: Laurie Edwards-Tate
HEADQUARTERS: San Diego
BUSINESS: Licensed in-home healthcare (non-medical)
REVENUE: estimate between $2.4-$2.5
EMPLOYEES: 98 homecare aides and 6 others
WEBSITE: atyourhomefamilycare.com
CONTACT: 858-625-0406
SOCIAL IMPACT: Edwards-Tate said a great majority of the company’s caregivers are from multicultural and highly diverse backgrounds.
NOTABLE: Edwards-Tate is in her second term on the Board of Palomar Health.
