Home for Life Design: Transforming Homes & Lives
In July of this year, the Rowan Chamber and the City of Salisbury presented six small business grants to help encourage and support local businesses. To further this mission, the Rowan Chamber and Your Rowan will feature each of these businesses in a series of blog posts over the coming months.
Imagine returning to your home after a life-changing injury, only to find that the place meant to offer you comfort and security now feels like a series of obstacles. This is a reality that Home for Life Design is determined to change.
Founded by Carolyn Sithong, Home for Life Design is a revolutionary, data-driven home assessment tool that measures the safety and accessibility of each room in the home and provides recommendations that will eliminate barriers to home safety.
“The assessment is a SaaS (Software as a Service) and is used by service providers who work in the homes of individuals who are aging or disabled,” said Sithong.
The result is a life-changing experience for clients, families, and their care teams.
“Healthcare is good at diagnosing a person to determine how healthy they are, but they are not so good at diagnosing a home. Home is a social determinant of health. If you cannot do the activities of daily living, your health becomes compromised,” said Sithong.
By diagnosing the home, Home for Life Design ensures that physical barriers, like steps, stairs, or tub showers, do not become sources of disability. Instead, these barriers can be replaced to enhance health, safety, and participation in daily life.
The inspiration behind Home for Life Design stems from Sithong’s personal experience as an occupational therapist.
“I saw many persons who, after suffering a catastrophic injury, return home only to feel more disabled. The home environment does one of two things — it enables function or disables function,” said Sithong.
This realization led to the creation of a tool that would help transform homes into spaces that empower their inhabitants.
What sets Home for Life Design apart from others in the industry is its sophisticated approach to home assessments.
“Most home assessment processes offered by home health companies or home improvement service providers are not standard, antiquated, and are usually as sophisticated as ‘remove the throw rug,’ said Sithong.
“Our technology measures the impact the home has on health with safety and accessibility metrics and also provides the home modification solutions that can increase those numbers. We create homes that work now and later,” she added.
Thinking about her company’s long-term goals, Sithong hopes that Home for Life Design will become the gold standard for measuring the health of homes across the lifespan.
“We are eliminating disability, one home at a time with our technology, and are making a huge impact by helping to reduce falls, avoid unnecessary institutionalization among the aging and disabled, and saving healthcare costs,” she said.
But, the company’s vision extends beyond individual homes. Sithong also hopes Home for Life Design will create jobs and support local service providers in Rowan County, contributing to a healthier, more accessible community for all.
For aspiring entrepreneurs, Sithong offers this piece of advice: “If you have a fire, feed the fire. It is there, created and placed in your heart for your individual talents and gifts. Good will always come from moving towards your dream, so never be afraid to take that first step.”
Home for Life Design is more than just a business — it’s a mission to transform homes and improve lives. For more information, visit HomeforLifeDesign.com.
