When Liz Dunleavy founded the local elder care organization Kith Care in 2015, she selected a meaningful name. According to the company’s website, “kith” is defined as “acquaintances, friends, neighbors, or the like; persons living in the same general locality and forming a more or less cohesive group.”

However, she didn’t foresee the confusion the name would cause.

“I will call places and they think I’m saying ‘kids care’ a lot,” Dunleavy laughed. “I have to spell it and say we’re senior care.”

Despite the occasional misunderstanding, the Chestnut Hill resident said the definition of “kith” summarizes her goal in forming a collaborative community rallying together and supporting one another in the aging process.

A “hired daughter”

Alongside Dunleavy, Kith Care employs six other staff members: five social workers, one nurse, and one office manager. The company works with clients in Philadelphia and Montgomery counties, as well as parts of surrounding counties, including Chester, Bucks, and Delaware. The social workers, called “care managers,” serve a total caseload of roughly 60 clients and their families.

Dunleavy said Kith Care offers a range of services and the kind of specialized attention that led one client to refer to the company as a “hired daughter.”

Instead of having one standard procedure in dealing with seniors, Kith Care offers a customized care plan for each client. This begins with an opening assessment.

“[An assessment] is where we’re looking holistically at someone’s situation, like their living environment, their cognitive functioning, their physical needs, depression, anxiety, nutrition, home safety, socialization. Do they have their will and power of attorney documents?” Dunleavy said. “All these things can come into play impacting someone’s ability to age well.”

Once the assessment is completed, care managers then offer practical solutions. These can include accompanying seniors to medical appointments, assisting with wills and power of attorney documents, and navigating the bureaucratic systems of insurance and Medicare.

“The healthcare system is siloed, and this office might not talk to this office, so it’s connecting the dots,” Dunleavy said.

Kith Care’s primary goal is to help seniors age in place. However, care managers are also knowledgeable about retirement homes and other options.

Caring for clients

Phyllis Schnell, an 86-year-old Philadelphia resident, learned about Kith Care through her daughters, who live in San Francisco and Chicago. After being hospitalized with pneumonia and breaking her hip shortly afterward, Schnell no longer felt comfortable taking the bus to her doctor appointments. David Rosenberg, a care manager at Kith Care, is there to help.

“Even though I have recovered from the broken hip, I now walk with a quad cane or use a walker, and I don’t feel comfortable about taking a bus anymore,” Schnell said. “I’ll be relying on [Rosenberg] ... for various appointments, and I feel this is helping me stay independent for a longer period of time. … It has given my daughters, who live at a distance, quite a bit more peace of mind.”

Similarly, Phoebe Funderburg-Moore is grateful for the support Kith Care provided to her father before he passed away in June. She said his Parkinson’s disease and dementia led to a quick cognitive decline and, as an only child, she needed additional support.

“Dahlia [Klein] with Kith Care was the person I mostly worked with, and she was really incredible in helping navigate these changes I’ve never had to deal with,” Funderburg-Moore said. “Having a person who is really knowledgeable about what constitutes good senior care was really very useful for me, because it was my first time dealing with all of this, and it’s very overwhelming.”

Ray Lynch, whose father lived in Wyndmoor before passing away in January, feels likewise. Although he has a sister in Chestnut Hill, Lynch felt that caring remotely from his Connecticut home was difficult.

“[Kith Care] is having an advocate or a guide, somebody who is incredibly passionate and empathetic but also understands that there are business decisions to make and there are logistical challenges to address,” Lynch said. “It’s not only an advocate, but a champion and a safety net. It was remarkable.”

It takes a village

Dunleavy received a master’s degree in social work in 2000 from Fordham University with an emphasis in gerontology, or the study of aging. Her graduate school experience was formative when deciding the shape of her career.

“I was always interested in the older population,” Dunleavy said. “I feel like there’s a lot of things that could be done that aren’t being done for seniors.”

Dunleavy worked with seniors in both New York City and Boston, where she followed a blueprint for aging known as the Beacon Hill Village Model. In Beacon Hill, a neighborhood of Boston, a group of seniors joined together to create a way to age independently in their community. Services and social connections were brought to seniors, rather than having seniors move. Villages have since popped up throughout the country, replicating the success of Beacon Hill.

Dunleavy said this is an inspiring model she carries with her while running Kith Care. “I like the idea of being, not a family member, but a caring neighbor,” Dunleavy said. “It takes a village.”

Prepared for the next stage

According to Dunleavy, with so much ageism in the U.S., aging can be an uncomfortable topic.

“We as a society don’t handle [aging] well,” Dunleavy said. “It’s something that people don’t want to think about or plan for.” Dunleavy said Kith Care routinely deals with such cases.

“We’ve had clients who don’t have a power of attorney, the documents never got done, but now they’re confused to the point where they can’t sign,” Dunleavy explained. “That makes it a challenge. How do you make decisions for somebody? Who’s going to make the decision? What does the person want if it’s never been expressed?”

That is why, in addition to advocacy, Kith Care also focuses on education. Dunleavy believes it is important to consider topics such as aging and caregiving, and encourages people to have such conversations with their loved ones.

To learn more, visit kithcare.com. Maggie Dougherty can be reached at Margaret@chestnuthilllocal.com.