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Recently, Clermont County’s FirstLight Home Care hosted a COA wellness workshop – Matter of Balance. In the workshop, participants learn practical strategies to reduce the fear of falling. Read on to learn more about the experience from FirstLight owner, Mike Kraeutle.

COA:     Briefly tell us a little about FirstLight – What you do, why you started your company.  

MK:        FirstLight Home Care is a non-medical home care agency.  We help adults and seniors live independently and with dignity in the place they call home.  Our mission is to help them have their best day, every day.  We started this business in 2025 after my father passed away.  Previously, I worked in the corporate world and I wanted to do more meaningful work – this fit the bill. The opportunity to start this agency presented itself and my wife, Joy, and I have been helping people ever since. 

COA:     What kind of participant feedback have you heard?  

MK:        We consistently have 8 – 10 participants every week.  We just finished week 6 out of 8.  I’ve only heard positive comments from participants mostly about the need for learning ways they could improve their strength and balance. Some of the coursework has been about addressing participant fears of falling and those conversations have helped normalize participant fears and put it into context.  

COA:     How is the workshop benefiting your participants?  

MK:        Most really enjoy the community and social aspect as well as the course content.  A number of folks have asked about future courses we may offer, which tells me they value the program.

COA:     Talk a bit about your experience partnering with COA to host wellness programs.  

MK:        We’ve had a great experience.  In July we offered our first course.  Our role has been to recruit participants and host sessions.  It’s been a joy interacting with participants who have been looking for a course like Matter of Balance to do with others in a community setting.

COA:     What would you tell other facilities who are considering partnering with COA?  

You won’t regret it!  Besides being a great resource for seniors in our community, the program has been another way we have been able to create visibility and awareness of the services we offer through social media, fliers, and word of mouth.

COA offers a variety of Health and Wellness workshops designed for older adults and their caregivers. Learn more here.

If your organization, or one you know of, is interested in hosting a Health and Wellness workshop, contact Judy at [email protected].