I am an independent professional caregiver with a lot of experience watching local agencies provide personal care, and I have the utmost respect for Senior Helpers. They are a company with a sincere mission of providing skilled, dependable care. A well-run company with both brains and heart. Both my own experience with them, and the experiences others have reported to me, have been outstanding. I highly recommend talking to owner Susan Grant at the El Cerrito Senior Helpers' office about your caregiving needs for yourself or a loved one. I do not hesitate to refer potential clients to them when my work schedule is full, and I love visiting their office in El Cerrito Plaza, because it is an oasis of calm and peace... full of friendly people who really want to engage and help you. I would encourage anyone thinking about getting into this field as a professional caregiver to talk to Susan about a career with Senior Helpers. They are a fair and equitable employer, and care as deeply about their employees as about their clients. There is no other agency I know of that I would make any of these claims about. Nor is there any other agency I would recommend working for. In my observation and based on my research, most are exploitative and poorly run. Save yourself time and energy and start with the best when you are looking for a caregiver, or for work in the field...call Senior Helpers in El Cerrito. read more

I am writing this review to document serious concerns regarding the care my family received from Senior Helpers while providing in-home assistance for my mother, who was terminally ill with glioblastoma brain cancer. It has taken me over a year to write this, as the experience was emotionally draining and deeply upsetting. Senior Helpers was originally recommended for light assistance, but my mother required hospice-level care. Management represented that caregivers assigned to our home would be trained for this level of care. Based on our experience, this was not consistently the case. Multiple caregivers demonstrated limited training in personal hygiene, patient mobility, medication handling, and overnight monitoring. I personally had to step in or assist on numerous occasions. Some caregivers stated their training consisted primarily of instructional videos. While several individuals were kind and well-intentioned, they did not appear adequately prepared for end-of-life care. There were several patient safety concerns, including: A medication administration error in which more than the intended dose was given, despite clear instructions that caregivers were not to administer medications at all. Improper assistance with patient mobility, even though appropriate equipment was available. Overnight shifts where required monitoring did not occur. Specific instructions regarding my mother's physical limitations being ignored, resulting in a fall (thankfully without serious injury). Caregivers sleeping or using personal phones for extended periods during scheduled shifts. Additionally, a member of management charged me cash during a home visit that I was later told was supposed to be free. When I raised this issue, it was denied despite the interaction being documented on in-home cameras. These incidents were documented and shared with management. Responses generally focused on staff replacement and billing rather than addressing broader concerns related to training, supervision, or systemic issues. Staffing reliability was also inconsistent. Some caregivers arrived late, some shifts went uncovered, and continuity of care was limited. A small number of caregivers were excellent, but they were the exception rather than the norm. When I raised concerns with management and ownership, communication was difficult and unprofessional, and many questions went unanswered. Contractual notice requirements limited our ability to immediately discontinue services despite ongoing safety concerns. We eventually transitioned to another care provider. After doing so, my mother's care stabilized, and the overall stress in our home decreased significantly. Based on our experience, I would urge extreme caution when considering Senior Helpers for hospice-level or complex medical care. Families in similar situations should carefully evaluate caregiver training, supervision practices, and escalation procedures--and read the contract closely. Update: 1/7/2026 In response to the owner's reply requesting that I reach out by phone, I did so today. I left a message stating that I was returning the owner's request for contact and noted that I preferred not to speak with the manager due to prior communication difficulties. Approximately 15 minutes later, I received a call from that same manager. She was polite, expressed surprise at my experience, and stated that she did not recall our prior interactions. I responded calmly and professionally. The call lasted approximately three minutes. The conversation was brief and respectful on both sides. Later this afternoon, I was contacted by my local police department and informed that a complaint had been made alleging that my call involved threatening language or profanity. Those allegations do not reflect my recollection of the call, which was professional in tone and made solely in response to the owner's public request for contact. I explained this context and was advised not to contact the company again. I agreed. Thankfully both conversations were recorded by my security cam with time & day stamps. The officer said I could file a false police report, but decided I just needed to more on... and so should you. read more

She is amazing, she can run the business alone. She has all the medical answers. This is a very good company to work for. read more

I would score lower if I could. Unlike other local age ties, Senior Helpers does not even interview the workers they send to peoples homes. I had several bad people before I switcher to Premier in Alameda. The last person they sent did NONE of her assigned duties, changing my husbands diaper, getting him to bed at 10, dinner dishes. She cornered me on the couch and berated me for the bad job I am doing with my husband, She refused to put him to bed at 10, saYING THAT HE SHOULD be able to go to bed when he wants, When she left, she said she would "report me". The next night the police came to do a well ness check and the next night a social worker came. Do not use this agency read more

Cruel out of touch caregiver manager; mostly terrible caregivers. One got into a car accident with me and the other was reported for elder abuse. read more

I called to ask about an open position and the hiring manager was very rude and she instantly gave me attitude right away. I never even yelled at her or anything at all and she instantly started answering back in a very rude way. Her name was Pamela I believe. read more

Ms. Lum, the owner was very helpful in guiding us through getting help with the VA and Pamela the case manager is very responsive. They sent a wonderful caregiver for my father, then when she left, several not great ones, but at least they were benign. The last one they sent stole two of my dad's credit cards and a debit card. She denied it, but once we filed a police report it came out that she had been accused of stealing from a co-worker in her last job (on camera). She was put on probation there and I assume quit before she could be fired. When I told Maria this, she just made excuses and said they did the proper checks and nothing came up and they are still employing this woman. On top of the theft, this caregiver is very unpleasant and my dad was scared of her. It's a hard job and it's difficult to find good caregivers, but please be careful if you work with this company. Not sure what licenses and bonded means, as Ms. Lum took no responsibility and just had us deal with the police. My dad is traumatized and will not allow any other helper to come in now, which is making things very difficult, as I live out of state. read more

Please do your family a HUGE favor and do not use the Senior Helpers franchise in Fairfield, CT. They DO NOT do proper due diligence on their caregivers. There are a couple of caregivers that are OK, thus the "one-star" grade. However, it is the other "caregivers" who are absolutely useless, unattentive, and criminal, in some cases. There is even a situation whereby a particular "caregiver" was violent with a family member, smoked pot when "working", did not clean the patient, did not feed the patient, and had sex toys in her room (this is ALL professionally documented). And the worst thing is the leadership team of this particular franchise admitted they did not do proper due diligence on this individual. Horrific and absolutely unacceptable. read more

I had a wonderful conversation with the owner yesterday. Very Caring and very unique platform. The care works into a caregivers at homes schedule. I was calling to use their services in the future. Ms Lum answered all of my questions and she was very compassionate. She will send you an email stating all of the benefits. read more

Susan Grant and staff at Senior Helpers were quite literally a god send during a very stressful time. Right as the shelter in place order happened, my close elderly friend fell and needed care immediately. Susan came over to learn her needs and ended up supported us in making the house safe for her to move around using a walker. She helped me move rugs and small furniture! She then found staff who could start immediately, and who also were a personality match with my friend. Additionally, Susan supported me in learning how to care for my aging friend and get her the services that she needs at this time. read more

Senior Helpers provides a set of services that is increasingly important as more people live longer, healthier lives. By making experienced, trustworthy caregivers available to seniors and their families, SH enables older people to remain in their own homes as long as possible. Senior Helpers caregivers provide transportation, companionship, and light housekeeping services, and also run errands, cook meals, and assist clients in dealing with the everyday challenges of maintaining a household. For clients who require assistance to handle personal health needs, licensed home health workers are available. In my experience, the proprietors and office staff of the Berkeley Senior Helpers office are caring, sympathetic, and conscientious when assisting clients and supervising caregivers. Of course, in situations where outside caregivers are sometimes expected to take the place of family members or other loved ones as participants in everyday activities, things cannot be guaranteed to run 100% smoothly. Arrangements do not always work, and of course, sometimes there are problems. But when issues arise the SH staff works hard and promptly to resolve them. They believe in what they are doing and they try very hard to accommodate and satisfy clients. Overall, this is a good, trustworthy business and I would not hesitate to recommend them. read more

The absolute best in home care. I have had them for 3 years for my husbands needs, always responsible and consistent. Highly recommend.

Senior Helpers sent Fridda to help me cate for my mother after hip surgery. She was a godsend. Her patient and compassionate care of my mother played an important role in her recovery. She was always punctual, organized and extremely thorough. She went well beyond what was required of her. We were lucky to have her come into our lives. read more

Seniors Helpers is a great company for in home care and for help in the hospital when family members can not be there as an advocate for a loved one. Susan Grant is very professional but she is also kind and patient. She had been to visit my aunt many times to help her figure out the best way to use the services she offers. When the time came to hire the company the staff was very compassionate and genuinely cared for my aunt's well-being. They helped her have a more comfortable stay in the nursing facilities by making sure that my aunt had what she needed and the attention from the nurses in a timely manner. It was a great relief to myself and my family knowing that Senior Helpers was there helping when we could not be there. Thank you to Susan Grant and to her caring staff. read more

I just want to thank Susan Grant and staff at Senior Helpers for all their services. I was becoming overwhelmed with finding help for my husband. They did everything they could to find help for me. I am so grateful! read more

I called & got an appointment with the owner the very next day. We had 2 additional meetings scheduled that afternoon but, after discussing it with my mom, stepfather & stepsister, decided to cancel the other appointments and go with Senior Helpers. My mom (and everyone) was very impressed. When you get to the point of needing someone quickly, you are very stressed and this company knows how to keep you calm. Unfortunately, we were unable to use them as my mom's condition declined very rapidly & she passed shortly thereafter. I was able to talk with the owner once things settled down & she continued to be kind, caring, and supportive. Additionally, because we were unable to use them, my credit card deposit was never charged. read more

Senior Helpers is a caring and competent business in a difficult, emotional and complicated industry. They provided an increasing level of care for my friend over a period of 5 years. I appreciated the response I got as the needs for care changed. Most caregivers were excellent and on those occasions when I wasn't happy, I only had to call to say so and they replaced the person immediately. I was glad that I didn't have to make those changes. Eventually I did decide to hire one of their caregivers directly and we made an agreement so that I could do this. It's disconcerting that YELP, an influential source that I depend on for referrals, discourages people who would benefit from Senior Helper's services from using them because of a "computer generated review recommendation". I note that there have been several positive reviews since the nasty review that is featured. YELP is doing a disservice to the consumers who need competent caregivers and a business that manages all of the headaches of hiring people. read more

After reading some of the comments about Senior Helpers, I feel the need to write a review. Our mother has Alzheimer's Disease and was not diagnosed with the disease until after our father passed away in January 2011. Originally, the family tried to take care for our mother all by ourselves, but quickly found out that we did not have enough time, patience and energy to care for her 24x7. We then hired a non-licensed caregiver who provided quality housekeeping services but she did not have the education and/or training to provide sufficient personal care required. Fortunately for us, we discovered Senior Helpers in 2012. From the very moment we contacted Senior Helpers we have experience nothing but professionalism, efficiency, reliability, trustworthiness, and responsiveness to our mother's changing needs. At first, Senior Helpers was more like a companion to mom. As mom's illness continues to progress, Senior Helpers has been able to expand their services to meet the daily challenges of caring for someone with Alzheimer's (i.e. helping with dressing, grooming and hygiene, ensuring medication is taken, providing nutritious meals, changing soiled bedding, light housekeeping, providing safe and timely transportation, etc.). These days our mom is often moody, lacks the desire to get out of bed, bathe and/or eat but, Senior Helpers works with her and is able to get her to cooperate. Without Senior Helpers we would not be able to provide the quality of care our mom deserves for all the wonderful years she gave to raise her children and grandchildren. Thank you Senior Helpers for being apart of our extended family. read more

I needed 24/7 care for a month recovering from knee surgery .. a real problem living alone in a three story house. The caregivers (there were several ... one primary and the others to cover time off for him) were unfailingly kind, helpful, polite, and positive. I actually have no basis for comparison, but I can't imagine anyone doing a better job than these folks. read more

Our aging parents (89 & 90) have been under the excellent care of a primary caregiver provided by Senior Helpers Berkeley for 3.5 years. The caregiver is skilled, extremely experienced, trustworthy, and dedicated to ensuring the wellbeing and health of our parents for as long as possible. The proprietor of the Berkeley Senior Helpers has been helpful and sympathetic to our family's financial and caregiver needs. While our specific primary caregiver is excellent, the service appears to be near the top end of the price range for these types of services. Our family did have an extremely hard time in obtaining a reliable, skilled, and trustworthy off-day caregiver (1-2 days/week) through Senior Helpers; cycling through about 8 different caregivers. We finally gave up and made other arrangements for the off-day care. Senior Helpers Berkeley may benefit from more on-the-job caregiver training whereby less experienced caregivers are trained by experienced primary caregivers for off-day shifts at a lower rate for the clients. Communication and people-skills training for caregivers and office staff may also benefit the buisness. read more

DO NOT ENGAGE SENIOR HELPERS IF YOUR LOVED ONE HAS DEMENTIA. They may be fine for seniors without such issues, but it was a 3-year DISASTROUS experiment as far as my mother (who has dementia) was concerned. An ongoing difficulty was that of providing a bath for my mother, who has dementia. The caregivers just did not seem to know how to accomplish this once a week. We brought this to the attention of the agency, who promised to do better. The situation did not improve much, but we later found out that the caregiver had been claiming to the agency that she HAD been bathing Mom once a week. The agency checked in with its caregivers once a week to monitor things, but went several months without checking in with us. A visiting nurse from the agency made an appointment to come by but did not show up and did not call until several hours later, but did not make a follow up appointment. On at least two occasions, the caregiver made Mom's bed without changing the sheets, even though they were soiled. On another occasion, I came home at 1 p.m. at the end of a shift and found that Mom was still in bed and had not had her incontinent underwear checked in over 48 hours, nor had she been fed or given her medications. The caregiver had been focusing on the "best practices" she had learned about carefully labeling food in the refrigerator. However, she completely missed the (common sense) "best practice" of caring for the client properly. To be fair, they did a lot of things competently enough, but I had to supervise them very closely and repeatedly ask for things to be done. A lot of time on the part of one caregiver was spent sitting and talking with Mom (resting from her other full time job, it seems) and doing the bare minimum. ON THE WHOLE, VERY UNSATISFACTORY. read more

I have been a caregiver with Senior Helpers for 2 + years and have found that they are very careful about getting to know the people that they employ. I would say that the quality of the employees is extremely high, and great effort is given to match employees and clients. Senior Helpers provides ongoing educational opportunities for staff, and they are very diligent about keeping track of the relationship between staff member and client. Both staff and clients are treated with respect . From what I have heard and experienced, this is not common in the elder care industry. read more

I am a current caregiver for Senior Helpers and I really enjoy working for them. I assist delightful elderly clients in their homes located in close vicinity to my own. I can work around my own schedule and it is a very fulfilling job. Any time I have ever expressed a concern the SH staff has been extremely fair and supportive. I could work for anyone, but I choose to work for Senior Helpers. read more

I've been employed as a Senior Helpers caretaker, in the City of Berkeley, for two and a half years. I have a bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley and I've spent twenty-five years in professional fields. I can whole heartedly attest to the overt professionalism and noticeable kindness and caring attitude of Senior Helpers. The benevolent owner and competent management staff surpass their rivals in human and employee relations, and caring for clients. Senior Helpers set the bar high by maintaining honesty, integrity, and unique service. Caretakers frequently work with clients who have Alzheimer's and/or Dementia, requiring the caretaker to RESPOND with understanding, patience, and perseverance. Senior Helpers specializes in matching valued clients with empathetic and thoughtful caretakers. I have earnestly encouraged career minded people to seek employment with Senior Helpers. I am a proud and devoted employee who always recommends Senior Helpers. I've trusted Senior Helpers to care for my mother in-law whom I dearly loved. read more

I honestly cannot thank Senior Helpers enough for everything they have done to make the path from elder abuse, to safe, dependable, efficient, loving care, a painless one for my disabled sister and myself. My years of inability to remove a person whom she had hired to care for her in her home were a nightmare. The person became several people who were actually living in her home, spending her money, and rarely thinking of her present and future needs. Those who live alone and are elderly or disabled are all too often victims of such deceptive people. At first glance they can seem to provide needed help and companionship. But without very close scrutiny and diligent oversight they quickly see a situation to abuse. One winter I could not get any answer at her house for 2 weeks and made the 1/2 day drive to her home to find that she had broken her hip and no one had bothered to call me. Living so far away, I often felt powerless to affect change in the situation. After this experience I would never consider hiring help for a loved one that was not through an agency. I wanted accountability AND oversight. After an intervention to remove these people, we called Senior Helpers. From our initial visit with Susan in my sister's home, she has been respected, heard and cared for in the way she deserves. Those of us who strive to make her life safe and enjoyable are pleased with the professional and personal level of care they offer. The staff and management of Senior Helpers is always available, 24/7, to answer questions - be it about billing, scheduling, or the most minute details of her needs. Susan and Paul have even come to the house to personally pick her up at least 2 times when she has fallen from her wheelchair at times of the day when the caregivers were not there. I would not hesitate for one minute to have Senior Helpers arrange care for my dearest relatives again at any time. read more