Charlie Martino has devoted his life to helping others, including providing home care for his aging family members.
That devotion led him to start a business aimed at teaching people how to care for elderly or disabled loved ones.
As a blooming business owner starting a company designed to educate and assist home caregivers, Gerontecture LLC, Martino is a new client of the Triangle Business & Innovation Center. Martino is a TBIC virtual client, which means he did not require an office because he already had one and is able to use the center’s conference space and resources.
Through TBIC, Martino is also working with professors from the College of William and Mary’s Mason School of Business and networking with area business people who will eventually comprise the Gerontecture board of advisers. He is also getting assistance in creating a marketing strategy.
When Martino launched Gerontecture in May, it was with a background that gave him first-hand knowledge of the struggles caregivers face.
Martino has lived in Williamsburg since 1980 but has been splitting his time between Virginia and New York for the past several years to be a caregiver for family members. Martino was providing care for his mother, father and aunt. His mother and aunt have passed away, but he continues to provide care for his father. In the 1980s and ’90s, Martino worked as an architect designing long-term care facilities. Prior to that, he served in the U.S. Coast Guard and spent 20 years as a volunteer firefighter and rescue worker.
With his experiences stacked in favor of care giving, Martino decided to return to college to study gerontology – providing care for the elderly and disabled on a non-clinical level – and to pursue a certificate in aging, which he earned from Virginia Commonwealth University in May just before launching his business.
“It’s very unique. There isn’t really anyone else that is providing this type of service,” Martino said. “I don’t self-perform any hands-on [care]; all of my work is really consulting and working with individual families around the kitchen table, understanding their problems and coming up with interventions. …”
Martino provides assistance to clients in planning, executing and managing care for loved ones. He also offers home risk assessments and remodeling services, as well as employee assistance programs to educate workers in how to care for loved ones while maintaining a career.
“Family caregivers don’t take care of themselves, they are constantly taking care of their loved one,” Martino said. Through his services, he can help caregivers manage stress by coming up with an enacting a care plan.
While Martino runs his business providing services to home caregivers, he also offers free support groups as a trained volunteer thorough the Alzheimer’s Association. He offers a family caregiver support group open to all caregivers from 2:30 to 4 p.m. on the third Thursday of every month at the Colonial Heritage Clubhouse. He also offers a family caregiver support group for men from 11:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Williamsburg United Methodist Church. Respite Care WUMC provides complimentary care during the men’s support group with pre-registration required through Carolyn Yowell at 757-229-1771 ext. 354.
For more information about Martino and his business and support groups, visit the Gerontecture website, email info@gerontecture.com or call 757-426-4041.