Wikipedia

Jean Griswold

Jean C. Griswold (July 30, 1930 - January 28, 2017) was an American businesswoman. She was the founder of Griswold Home Care, a corporation founded in 1982 to provide non-medical, in-home care for the elderly and infirm. She was the subject of ongoing press attention because she founded a successful corporation despite using a wheelchair because she suffered from multiple sclerosis.

Jean Griswold
Born(1930-07-30)July 30, 1930
New York City, New York, U.S.[1]
DiedJanuary 28, 2017(2017-01-28) (aged 86)
Worcester, Pennsylvania, U.S.[2]

Education and personal life edit

Griswold earned her bachelor's degree in economics and business administration from Douglass College in New Brunswick, N.J. in 1952.[3] She earned her master's degree in counseling from Rutgers University in 1956.[3][4]

Jean and her husband, Lincoln Griswold, lived for many years in Erdenheim, Pennsylvania, where Reverend Griswold was pastor of the Chestnut Hill Presbyterian Church.[5]

Career edit

Early career edit

Griswold worked as a guidance counselor at Westfield High School, then as a counselor at the Lutheran Home for the Aged.[3]

Founding the home care company edit

In 1982, Griswold founded a home care company for the elderly and disabled.[5][6][7][8][9] Initially called Overnight Sitting Service prompted by her discovery that there was no company offering overnight companionship for the frail elderly.[4][10][11][12] The first caregivers Griswold hired when she started the company working from her dining room table were seminary students who stayed nights with the elderly.[5] According to Inc. (magazine) by 1989, the company was a $10-million, multi-state business.[13]

The company was soon renamed Special Care Inc.,[14] then renamed Griswold Home Care.[15][16] In 2005, it was described by the Philadelphia Business Journal as, "the nation's largest, privately owned nonmedical home-care company."[17] By 2006, the company had 87 franchises in 16 states and some outside the United States.[12] In 2009, it had 103 franchises.[11] Griswold, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, was in a wheelchair when she founded the company,[14] and continued to work from her wheelchair.[18]

Griswold's son, Kent, served as president of the company, and her husband, Lincoln, a Presbyterian minister, served as chairman of the board.[5][19]

In 1995, the company attracted media attention when one of its home care employees was arrested while buying illegal drugs, and press reports focused on the fact that since the company does not provide medical services, its employees are not required to be certified and may not be closely supervised.[19]

In 2003–2004, Griswold was Entrepreneur in Residence at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.[3]

Recognition edit

Jean has won numerous awards,[14][20] including the Spirit of Philadelphia Award.[4][21] She won Working Woman's 2001 Entrepreneur of the Year honor.[22] The National Multiple Sclerosis Society presented Griswold with the 2002 MS National Achievement Award.[23][24] She was inducted to the Hall of Distinguished Alumni of Rutgers University in 1995.[3] She was awarded an honorary doctorate from Holy Family University in Philadelphia.[3][25]

On April 27th, 2023, after resolutions in the Pennsylvania House and Senate, a portion of Township Line Road in Montgomery County, PA was dedicated in honor of Jean Griswold.

Plays, books about Griswold edit

Letter to My Daughter: Adventures of Atypical Women, a one-woman play written and performed by Beth Hirst, profiled Griswold, Isadora Duncan, explorer Mary Kingsley, and environmental activist Julia Butterfly Hill as models of women who overcome challenges to lead lives of great achievement.[12]

In 1999, her story was told in the book "The Courage To Give" by Jackie Waldman.[26] Her story was published in the 2010 book Women of Spirit, by Katherine Martin.[27]

Books by Jean Griswold edit

  • Griswold, Jean C. (2013). Fears Of The Elderly. ISBN 978-1484912898.[28]

References edit

  1. ^ "JEAN GRISWOLD Obituary (1930 - 2017) - Philadelphia, PA - Philadelphia Inquirer/Philadelphia Daily News". Legacy.com.
  2. ^ "Jean C. Griswold Obituary (1930 - 2017) Montgomery News". Legacy.com.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Jean Coghlan Griswold, Health Services Entrepreneur". rutgers.edu. Rutgers University. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  4. ^ a b c Hausman, Christine. "Heads Above The Crowd". Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d Heavens, Alan. "They're Making 'House Calls' To Care For The Home-bound". Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  6. ^ Machan, Dyan (December 24, 1990). "Being an entrepreneur is a state of mind". Forbes. Archived from the original on May 28, 2015. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  7. ^ "When Jean Griswold discusses her business, her enthusiasm lights up the room". Entrepreneur. 1991.
  8. ^ "From adversity to advantage. (Diagnosis: MS).(multiple sclerosis)(Griswold Special Care home-care company for people with special needs)". Paraplegia News. January 1, 2003. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  9. ^ McCreary, Michele. "Group Has Helped More Than 10,000". Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  10. ^ "Jean Griswold. (women with multiple sclerosis runs long-term home care alternative)". Paraplegia News. October 1, 1991. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  11. ^ a b Ash, Lorraine (July 14, 2009). "Respect for elderly leads duo to career". Morristown Daily Record. ProQuest 440145881.
  12. ^ a b c Ragsdale, Shirley (January 14, 2006). "One woman, one show, a lesson for all women". Des Moines Register. ProQuest 237783826.
  13. ^ Case, John (June 1, 1989). "The Origins of Entrepreneurship Where do America's fastest-growing private companies and their founders come from? Not where you think". Inc. magazine. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  14. ^ a b c McColllum, M.J. (May 10, 1996). "Seniors Who Make a Difference; Commitment Earns Them Art of Living Awards". Philadelphia Tribune.
  15. ^ "Home care provider rebrands". McClatchy – Tribune Business News. June 26, 2012. ProQuest 1022191176.
  16. ^ "Nation's Oldest Home Care Provider Celebrates 30 Years and Rebrands". PRWeb=June 11, 2012. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  17. ^ Rosenstock, Beryl (August 29, 2005). "SBA winner grows caseload fivefold over six-year span". Philadelphia Business Journal. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  18. ^ Mikus, Kim (February 7, 2003). "Home-care company connects caregivers with elderly clients". Daily Herald (Arlington Heights). ProQuest 312733008.
  19. ^ a b Hall, M. Floyd (May 7, 1995). "Caregiver Drug Buy Raises Industry Issues". The Morning Call. ProQuest 392690616.
  20. ^ Graham, Maureen (May 5, 1996). "Art Of Living Awards". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  21. ^ Smith, Linda. "MS Connection". nationalmssociety.org. National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  22. ^ "Rutgers University Hall of Distinguished Alumni". alumni.rutgers.edu. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  23. ^ "Jean Griswold: a modern success story". The Free Library. faces. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  24. ^ "Distinguished and Notable". January 5, 2003. ProQuest 287209878.
  25. ^ "Griswold Special Care Founder Earns Honorary Doctorate". Cape Gazette. Cape Gazette. May 26, 2006. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  26. ^ Waldman, Jackie; Janis Leibs Dworkis (1999). The Courage to Give: The Inspiring Stories of People Who Triumphed Over Tragedy to Make a Difference in the World. Conari Press. p. 73. ISBN 1-57324-175-X.
  27. ^ Martin, Katherine (October 10, 2001). Women of Spirit: Stories of Courage from the Women Who Lived Them. New World Library. ISBN 978-1577311492.
  28. ^ Griswold, Jean (August 13, 2013). Fears Of The Elderly. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. p. 174. ISBN 978-1484912898.
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