This article was originally published by Toledo Free Press.
At 64, Navy veteran John Baldwin has lived two very different lives: one deep under the ocean aboard nuclear submarines and the other inside the homes of families navigating the challenges of aging and needing care. Today, as the owner of Right at Home, Baldwin provides in-home care for seniors who want to remain where they’re most comfortable.
“We do in-home care and assistance for the elderly to help them to age in place. That’s the business, in a nutshell,” he said.
Before running a care agency, Baldwin was in the Navy as a submariner from 1979 to 1985. For his six years of service, Baldwin was part of the Navy’s nuclear program where he was stationed on nuclear submarines.
“It was pretty intense; it was a lot of learning,” he said. “The six years stay in the Navy involved two years of nuclear power school, two years where I worked at a prototype as a naval instructor, and then it was two years in the submarine fleet.” Baldwin said.
Life underwater was structured and isolating, but Baldwin adapted to it. For Baldwin, patrols lasted three to four months at a time between returning to port. “Your days just melt together,” he said.
After leaving the Navy in 1985, Baldwin landed a job at Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station, where he worked for 20 years. But as his parents and in-laws grew older, Baldwin encountered the struggles of finding reliable, compassionate care.
“God redirected my career path in a big way. My parents were aging, and I was having trouble finding care for my dad and my wife’s parents,” Baldwin said. “After interviews with Right at Home, it just seemed like a good fit, like people need help with this finding care for their mom and dad, so that’s how we got into this.”
Since opening his franchise in 2010, Baldwin has worked with many families to help provide care and support.
“It’s a mixture of one or two visits a week to full time care. It really depends what the family needs and where they’re at and the whole aging process,” Baldwin said. Compatibility between the caregiver and the client is a big priority to Baldwin. “When your caregiver comes to the house, you want to look forward to the caregiver coming, and you don’t want to be dreading their visit,” he said.
As a veteran himself, Baldwin now makes sure aging service members receive the help they are entitled to. A fellow veteran once encouraged him to check his own eligibility, which resulted in Baldwin receiving benefits he didn’t realize he had qualified for.
For Baldwin, the work remains a continuation of the values shaped during his years in the military. His commitment to guiding families, supporting veterans, and ensuring older adults can remain safely in their homes reflects a lifetime spent answering the call to serve. And as he looks toward the future of Right at Home, Baldwin remains focused on the simple mission of making sure no family has to face the challenges of aging alone.
Article written by Gaven Hafner.
If you’re interested in taking the next step in making a difference in your community as a Right at Home franchisee, visit https://rightathomefranchise.com/.