Over the past couple of months, I have been asked repeatedly how my program is funded or how my services are paid for. If disappointment had a sound it would be deafening when I advise my audience that we operate a fee-for-service program. Although I recognize some of my audience members may dismiss anything further I have to say, I still proceed to advise them of the Cost Reduction Program that reduces hourly rates by roughly 50% for low income households, the sliding scale we apply to all other financial situations, and the extended repayment plan options for many clients. I also then advise them that through my 16 years of non-profit employment, municipal management in a social benefits program, involvement with residential tenancies act, etc., etc., that there are other means in which to achieve support or funding for individuals needs. As the many groups of individuals sitting before me have learned there are options aside from non-profit and to quote one of my clients, "some things are worth every penny and more... and you definitely are."
This is not to say that these options exist for everyone. Those with moderate to higher income levels are not likely to qualify for additional financial support through social benefit avenues and I am required to get a wee bit more creative to obtain support. Have I been successful gathering support for every case? No, I have not. Have individuals needed to cash in a small portion of their retirement investment portfolio to cover service costs? Yes, they have. Did I qualify them for the Cost Reduction Program to ensure their retirement savings remained relatively untouched regardless of their current income? Yes I did. "Why?" my fellow business owners and social entrepreneurs demand to know? Because, as I shared with my new colleagues through the Elder Abuse London Middlesex group, I am a counsellor first and a business woman second... and of course this impacts the bottom line but the bottom line is not why I started this company. I created this program 6 years ago because I knew then that I had more to offer than the job descriptions I had been given in every capacity in which I was employed. I was awarded (nationally) for my work on this program as I taught post-secondary education and I have now taken this program full-time. I called the company Integrated Hoarding Response because it takes every aspect of every role I have ever performed in the community and draws it into one solid, thorough, client-centred service that incorporates counselling skills, carpentry skills, professional organizing skills, negotiation and mediation skills, project management skills, advocacy skills, healthcare skills, and so on, and so on. By now, I am hoping you are getting the message about all of the talents, skills and abilities a fee-for-service provider has to offer. Add in the grocery shopping, banking, attendance at doctor's appointments, and Plans of Care meetings and the next question I am typically asked by my audience is "is there anything you don't do?" Electrical. I don't do electrical.
Here's the real bottom line; as a non-profit I would have service limits, eligibility restrictions and a funding mandate that would stipulate what and how I would operate. As a fee-for-service provider, I can give clients the best I have to offer regardless of where they live, what they earn, what their goals may be, how tall their piles are or what barriers/challenges they face. I own a company that believes in going the extra mile every day and in everything we do. In non-profit, it was called over-functioning. In business, it's called excellent customer service.
This is not to say that these options exist for everyone. Those with moderate to higher income levels are not likely to qualify for additional financial support through social benefit avenues and I am required to get a wee bit more creative to obtain support. Have I been successful gathering support for every case? No, I have not. Have individuals needed to cash in a small portion of their retirement investment portfolio to cover service costs? Yes, they have. Did I qualify them for the Cost Reduction Program to ensure their retirement savings remained relatively untouched regardless of their current income? Yes I did. "Why?" my fellow business owners and social entrepreneurs demand to know? Because, as I shared with my new colleagues through the Elder Abuse London Middlesex group, I am a counsellor first and a business woman second... and of course this impacts the bottom line but the bottom line is not why I started this company. I created this program 6 years ago because I knew then that I had more to offer than the job descriptions I had been given in every capacity in which I was employed. I was awarded (nationally) for my work on this program as I taught post-secondary education and I have now taken this program full-time. I called the company Integrated Hoarding Response because it takes every aspect of every role I have ever performed in the community and draws it into one solid, thorough, client-centred service that incorporates counselling skills, carpentry skills, professional organizing skills, negotiation and mediation skills, project management skills, advocacy skills, healthcare skills, and so on, and so on. By now, I am hoping you are getting the message about all of the talents, skills and abilities a fee-for-service provider has to offer. Add in the grocery shopping, banking, attendance at doctor's appointments, and Plans of Care meetings and the next question I am typically asked by my audience is "is there anything you don't do?" Electrical. I don't do electrical.
Here's the real bottom line; as a non-profit I would have service limits, eligibility restrictions and a funding mandate that would stipulate what and how I would operate. As a fee-for-service provider, I can give clients the best I have to offer regardless of where they live, what they earn, what their goals may be, how tall their piles are or what barriers/challenges they face. I own a company that believes in going the extra mile every day and in everything we do. In non-profit, it was called over-functioning. In business, it's called excellent customer service.
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