Assured Assistance, Inc. News

Chamber to recognize three with entrepreneurial awards

Reading Eagle; Date: May 09, 2008

Three businesspeople will be awarded the 2008 Greater Reading entrepreneurial excellence award at the Greater Reading Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s annual dinner Wednesday in the Sovereign Center.

The criteria for the entrepreneurial-excellence awards are that the entrants must be sole proprietors of a small business with 15 or fewer employees, in business for three years or longer and not eligible to participate in the Greater Reading Top 50 program.

The winners, selected by a committee, were chosen for creative marketing, service to the community or innovation in products or services.

The entrepreneurial excellence award winners are Christopher G. Madara, Lora Gabriel and Alan W. Shuman.

Gabriel is founder and president of Assured Assistance Inc., a Flying Hills-based staffing business for in-home, nonmedical companion care for seniors.

She also is a Realtor at Prudential Landis Homesale Services Group, Spring Township...

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Senior real estate issues grow as over-60 population booms
Reading Eagle; Date: May 09, 2004; Section: Home; Page Number: 107

By Susan E. Miers Smith

In Berks County, 46,926 households out of the 141,570 total households included someone age 60 or older in them, according to the 2000 U.S. Census.

Adding up other Census figures, 23,304 people over the age of 65 lived in the county in 2000.

That’s a lot of people who were heading into their golden years or were already enjoying (or dealing with the complications of) retirement age.

"People are living longer, but also living sicker longer," said Lora Gabriel-DiFulvio, owner of Assured Assistance Inc., Cumru Township.
senior real estate topics.

An obvious question that comes up as you age is what to do with a home when it no longer meets your needs, or your abilities to take care of the upkeep. Maybe you or a spouse has been sidelined by an illness and other accommodations are necessary. If you have been searching for a real estate agent, you may have

Her firm provides in-home, non-medical care to individuals and offers clients help in finding assisted living and selling their homes.

With that number of folks in the Berks area attaining "senior" status — and since May is National Older Americans month — I thought it appropriate to shed some light on some seen some Realtors advertising that they are a "senior real estate specialist" or that they have a SRES after their name in their advertisements.

What exactly does that mean?

I set out to educate myself on the topic and called Sheri Leonard, executive director of the Reading-Berks Association of Realtors, Wyomissing.

Leonard said the association recognizes senior housing issues are an important, rapidly evolving facet of the real estate industry, particularly in Berks County.

"We are going to have to come up with a solution," said Leonard, of the need for additional senior housing in the area.

Getting back to my fact finding, Leonard directed me to the Senior Advantage Real Estate Council (SAREC) Web site,
www.seniorsrealesate.com, and the Web site of the National Association of Realtors — the parent of the local association — www.realtor.org.
Having an SRES after a name means that the Realtor has gone through a two-day training course offered by the SAREC and passed the test of their proficiency of 12 hours of course material.

"A Realtor with the SRES designation has the experience and knowledge necessary to become a part of a senior property owner’s financial team," according to the SAREC Web site. "They currently average more than 15 years in the real estate field."

Although SAREC requires designees to be a Realtor (someone who has joined the National Association of Realtors – NAR – and agreed to abide by their code of ethics), the SRES is not an NAR designation.

"NAR does not officially recognize any designations other than those from within the Realtor family," according to the NAR Web site, www.realtor.org. "SRES is not affiliated with or endorsed by NAR."

What a Realtor does with the certification is what counts.

Gabriel-DiFulvio has the SRES and is also a certified senior adviser. Her husband, Bradley DiFulvio, is a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Landis Homesale Services, Spring Township.

She has a unique situation in Berks County. Her firm helps people stay in their own homes longer by providing services such as shopping, laundry, running errands, light housekeeping, grooming and hygiene assistance.

When and if her clients need assisted living, she will arrange a "showing" of local assisted living facilities and help them make decisions regarding financing this new housing and providing for long-term care down the road. She even will arrange movers and help family members set up power of attorney with local lawyers, if that becomes necessary, with many offering a senior citizen discount.

One of the biggest adjustments involved with moving to an assisted living facility is paring down personal belongings, Gabriel-DiFulvio said, and she will counsel her clients on doing just that.

She started her business after personal experience with dealing with her father who had six heart bypasses and then while he was a few months into recovery, her mother had quintuple bypass surgery.

Senior housing issues are only going to get more prominent as baby boomers continue maturing into their golden years, so folks specializing in dealing with their concerns are going to be even more in demand.

Susan E. Miers Smith is special sections editor of the Reading Eagle Company marketing/promotions department. To comment on her column call Eagle Link at 610-376-6000 and enter category 3011 or send e-mail to ssmith@readingeagle.com.