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January 2003
 Member
Profile:
Sally & Jim Hockin
The idea to rent rooms in their
home to older adults was compelling. Sally and Jim Hockin’s two children were
grown and she was experiencing a combination of “empty nest syndrome” and a
mid-life career crisis. While attractive in theory, neither she nor Jim had any
idea how difficult—or how fulfilling—owning an adult foster care business would
be.
“I thought it would be easy,” Sally admitted. “I
thought it would be a matter of providing a comfortable home for those without
a family. I was surprised to find how many of the people in adult care
facilities—including ours—are broken people. Quite a few have age-related
mental illness and dysfunctional family relationships,” she added.
Their south Salem home wasn’t suited for adult foster
care so the Hockins purchased a large, two-story residence in West Salem in the
late 1990s. Sally ran “Hilltop Home” alone during the first two years. Jim
continued to work; his salary and benefits helped the Hilltop Home get on its
feet. “But the rent paid by three residents wasn’t enough to finance extra
staff,” Sally explained, “and this type of work is 24/7”. As burnout
approached, they decided to modify the 1,500 square-foot downstairs dedicated
to foster care and take on two more residents. “About the time I was ready to
crack up, the business expanded enough to hire additional help. Jim was the
next full-timer,” Sally smiled.
“Sally had worked as my office manager when I owned a
heating contracting business,” said Jim, “so being business partners wasn’t a
concern.” The bigger issue was about Jim’s attitude and aptitude. “I wasn’t
sure that as a former business owner, computer system analyst and
administrator, that I had the skills to provide direct care for seniors. It
also took me awhile to accept that working at home was legitimate. I had to
build some sort of identity with this business and get used to not seeing a
regular paycheck,” he added.
Adult foster care is an alternative to assisted living
and has a useful niche in the spectrum of options for seniors, according to
Sally. “A place like this works best for those who prefer to be in a small,
close-knit group. Our residents would be overwhelmed with social activities or
large groups,” she said. The maximum number of residents allowed under this
option is five.
The couple now schedules at least one full day a week away from Hilltop Home.
“While Jim and I have our own place upstairs, it’s nevertheless very important
to get away from the business,” Sally said. A skilled, part-time employee fills
in three times a week. Beyond that, Hilltop Home relies on county and state
professionals for other basics. “Beyond a week of basic training provided by
the state and 10 units of continuing education every year, I’m not trained as a
nurse or a mental health professional,” she added. “We have a Polk County
caseworker who is wonderful. She responds quickly when we have a behavioral
episode and that’s very comforting.”
A key to success in this business, according to the
Hockins, is the ability to provide consistent, genuine care while staying
emotionally detached. “This is a difficult time of life for both the resident
and often for their children as well,” Jim said. “While most would rather be
with their own family, we’ve found that our brand of caring gives residents a
feeling of security, and it also gives the family peace of mind and perhaps
even a vacation from their grief and their guilt.”
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No New Utility Taxes
This information was provided by the Oregon Rural Electric Cooperative
Association, our statewide organization.
With the economy on a downturn,
Salem Electric is expecting some significant legislative challenges in the year
ahead. We have already heard that different ideas are being proposed to
increase utility taxes as a way to add revenue to government coffers.
Rate increases have already impacted many electric
cooperative members across the state. Our message needs to be loud and clear to
our government that now is not the time to raise taxes and increase electricity
costs for consumers that have already been hit with higher bills. “Power of
Community” is an easy way to help keep electricity affordable and defend your
interests.
“Power of Community” is Oregon’s grassroots network of
3,000 electric cooperative members across the state. These volunteers contact
their elected officials at local, state or federal levels if legislation is
proposed that would impact (for better or worse) our ability to provide
affordable electricity to our members.
It’s easy to join, and you are never under any
obligation. Your personal information will not be shared with any telemarketers
or direct mail firms. From time to time Salem Electric or our statewide
association—the Oregon Rural Electric Cooperative Association (ORECA)—will mail
or email you information relevant to our fight for affordable power.
To join “Power of Community”, click on “Power
of Community”. It will walk you through the steps of signing up on line
for the program. Or, print and fill out the form below and return it with your
payment.
Every member owns a piece of our electric cooperative.
As a non-profit utility, we can’t make large campaign contributions to
politicians. But, we can let our elected officials know that co-op members vote
and are watching how they vote on our issues. As your consumer-owned utility,
we appreciate your support.
Yes, I will help with the grassroots effort to support electric co-ops. If asked
by Salem Electric or the Oregon Rural Electric Cooperative Association, I will
write or call my Legislator(s) asking them to support electric co-op issues.
Name:__________________________________________________
Address:________________________________________________
City/Zip:_____________________ Phone:______________________
Email:__________________________________________________
Mail to: Salem Electric, PO Box 5588, Salem, OR 97304-0055, or return it with
your payment.
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Salem
Electric Receives Award
 Salem
Electric was one of two companies in the state to receive the “Community
Applause” award co-sponsored by the Oregon Bankers Association and Oregon
Business Magazine.
In addition to receiving a plaque, a $1,000 donation was made to the Union
Gospel Mission, on behalf of SE.
Bob
Speckman (left), SE General Manager, presents $1,000 check to Tom Zobel,
Director of Union Gospel Mission, with Jerry Barnick from West Coast Bank, who
nominated SE.
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