Once a week, Karelia Lanuza comes by Viola Zilio’s condo to assist her with something she might want, whether it’s finishing a puzzle, helping with chores or reminding her to take her medicines.
The two will regularly run errands or cross for walks. Often times, they’ll even prevent at Zilio’s favorite café to get the traditional Cuban coffee.
Lanuza isn’t a traditional caregiver. She is greater of an accomplice, in step with Zilio.
The pair met when Lanuza signed up to paintings for Papa, a new app and contact-based carrier for seniors.
“Papa connects college students to older adults for companionship, assistance, and transportation,” says CEO and founder Andrew Parker. “It’s kind of like a grandkid on-call for.”
Parker thought pairing university college students with seniors may want to fill a void he noticed.
“My grandfather, who we call papa, needed help but wasn’t sincerely ready for traditional healthcare services, and I idea it turned into weird there was not anything to be had earlier than that,” Parker says. “So, I thought it would be exciting to attach him to university scholar, and he cherished it.”
Lanuza is a sophomore pre-med scholar, and he or she wished a job that in shape along with her busy elegance agenda. She handed the agency’s historical past and character tests and got the gig.
“I came over. I met Viola and we clicked instantly,” Lanuza says. “And from there, I’ve been coming each Tuesday to peer her, and we cling out. It’s similar to hanging out with a chum.”
Zilio says Lanuza gives her a person to speak to.
“Seeing her as soon as a week is kind of like being like some other grandmother to me,” Lanuza says.
Currently inside the Miami place, Papa expenses around $17 an hour. The service is best running across Florida proper now, however, the business enterprise says they’ve planned to enlarge to numerous greater cities nationwide quickly.
