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A Step Above, a new home health business in Buckingham, is slated to open its doors for the first time this Saturday, July 11.

Business owner Jamise Vowels, 34, of Buckingham, said she was inspired to start the agency after experiencing the difficulties of finding care for a family member. She said it was a struggle to find at-home care for her grandmother in Buckingham. The closest organizations in Farmville or Charlottesville were unable to find workers available to travel that far.

Inspired to help others looking for help caring for their loved ones, Vowels founded A Step Above, a non-medical personal care provider created to help residents, especially older adults, with activities of daily living, from ambulating around the house to taking pills and traveling to medical appointments.

Vowels said A Step Above will work with clients and their insurance providers to evaluate cases on an individual basis. The agency may send staff such as a CNA or PCA nurse/aide to the home depending on the level and type of care needed, helping residents to find the best fit for the care of their loved ones.

She added the business will focus its services in the more rural areas of central Virginia, including Buckingham, Appomattox, Cumberland, Amelia, Powhatan, Goochland, Albemarle and Louisa.

“That’s where care is needed the most,” she said.

Vowels said interest in at-home care for older adults may be increasing due to the prevalence of outbreaks in nursing homes during the coronavirus pandemic.

A Step Above will be located at 2450 Randolph Creek Road. Vowels said she will be the third generation in her family to work in the building, as her mother and grandmother also owned businesses which operated at the same location.

For Vowels, A Step Above’s name is quite literal. She said the agency’s goal is to develop a higher level of at-home assistance that feels more like the care of a family member than a business.

“We’re on a more personal level,” she said. “Our motto is ‘quality care every step of the way,’ and that’s something we hold true to here.”

Additionally, Vowels said monthly PCA certification classes will be offered at the location.

The grand opening of the home health agency will be Saturday from noon to 4 p.m.

For more information about A Step Above, visit astepabovehealthservices.com or call (434) 581-1499.