Home Care Associates (HCA) is a worker owned cooperative of 160 people, most of whom were former welfare recipients. HCA has a dual mission of creating quality jobs while offering quality home health care to residents of the Philadelphia area. An Aspen Institute study concluded that HCA workers were rated higher by consumers than workers from other agencies. This is an inspiring project that will hopefully be replicated in other cities. Visit them on line at www.homecareassociatespa.com.

Untours Foundation co-owners, Norma and Hal Taussig, became keenly aware of the need for quality home care workers after Norma suffered a stroke a decade ago. Norma and Hal were disappointed to learn how little their health care company paid the home care aides who came to their house. With a little research, they discovered Home Care Associates, which was trying to expand in order to compete in the open market. At that same time, Norma and Hal won $250,000 from Paul Newman and JFK, Jr., for having the Most Generous Business in the US. In 2,000, they loaned that prize money to HCA, which was paid back ahead of schedule. Paul Newman was so impressed with HCA that he gave the Untours Foundation an unsolicited grant of $25,000 to loan to HCA. That loan was also paid back ahead of schedule.

HCA just purchased a building in order to reduce its overhead. The foundation is providing another loan to them in order to make the new building accessible.