Until 9/11, Lucille K. Green made a good living as a corporate head hunter, recruiting lawyers from one firm to another. But after the events that shook the country’s foundation, she found she wanted more from her career.
“I just burned out on it,” said Green, 76. “I didn’t want to work for a corporation.”
So in 2002, she purchased her first Visiting Angels franchise, a company that provides nonmedical, living-assistance services to seniors.
“I liked what I heard,” she said of the company.
In the years since then, she’s expanded her franchises to include Naperville, Downers Grove, Glen Ellyn, Winfield and, recently, Lombard and Oak Brook. She has 53 clients.
“We’re nonmedical providers,” she said. “We do hourly, 12-hour shifts a.m. and p.m. and 24-hour live-ins.”
The caregivers Green employs do everything from cooking and light cleaning to shopping and bathing.
“We offer everything,” she said. “Anything that is nonmedical.”
The goal is to help seniors stay in their own homes longer.
“Our clients are really their children,” she said. “You rarely will find a senior that calls us.”
But if they did call, seniors would find another senior answering their needs. Green is the oldest Visiting Angels franchisee in the country out of the 380 offices nationwide, she said. Her employees believe it gives her an edge.
“The fact that she’s a senior brings a different focus on what their needs are,” director of operations Laura Johnson said. “She’s a senior in chronological age only ... (but) she really makes us respect the dignity of our clients. That’s why we are so successful.”
Nor does Green have any plans to retire.
“I love it,” she said of her business.
But financial success isn’t how she measures her progress.
“It’s not the money — because it can all disappear,” she said. “What matters is that we’re taking care of our clients. That’s our No. 1 priority.”
Right now, her clients range in age from 52 to 93 years old. But she doesn’t have a minimum or maximum age — everything is client-based. She also accepts clients who don’t live where she has franchises; her restriction is that she can only advertise where she has franchises.
“It’s unbearable if you can’t take care of them,” she said. “They’re so fragile at times.”
For more information, call (630) 790-1112.
