Founder's Message

Message from our Founder

Husky Senior Care Philosophy

Husky Senior Care is the manifestation of a shared vision. The brainchild of founders Matt and Victoria Long, it gives seniors and their families an effective "household ecosystem" as an alternative to traditional senior living options. Our ethos of respect and dignity for all creates a landscape where everyone – clients, families, and employees – are seen, treasured, and valued. This is our blueprint. With it we’re raising the bar for in senior care in the Pacific Northwest.

When my wife Victoria and I were considering starting our own company we talked about the “organizational culture” of the company as much as we did about what type of business we wanted to start. Since both of us had extensive experience in Senior Living Communities, we were confident that a Senior Home Care business was a perfect match for us.

We enjoyed working in Senior Living. As professionals, we were committed to working together for the well-being of the residents. There is a lot to be said about learning from actually working in the trenches rather than the ivory tower. Victoria and I packaged our education, managerial expertise and hands on experience to develop our best practices and standards of excellence in serving our clients.

We found working with the “Greatest Generation” to be very fulfilling. However, there were times when we felt that some of the corporate decisions rubbed us the wrong way. Victoria and I pondered what it would be like to own and manage our own company. A company that would be driven by the values that are important to those we serve. We dreamed of a pleasant and gratifying work environment where success was built on trust, customer service, mutual respect, being straight forward in business practices and giving back to the community.We launched Husky Senior Care and set out to prove that it is possible in today's business world to build a company around those values. Most of our clients were raised on the principle of the Golden Rule. Why should they not be the recipients of that principle in their time of need? Our formula for success was to develop Husky Senior Care into a company that treated our clients with dignity and respect. We also wanted a company that treasured and valued their employees.

The difference between being in the Home Care business and being a caring company is the caliber of our team of caregivers, our guiding principles and the management of Husky Senior Care. It is the enthusiasm that our caregivers display in providing quality and dependable care to our clients that makes Husky Senior Care special. They are our most valued resource.

Our purpose is to provide our clients with compassion and competence in caring for their needs. Our Golden Rule is to treat our client's in the same manner that we would want our loved ones treated. This is Husky Senior Care's blueprint as we strive to raise the standard for Home Health Care.

The Husky Concept

Husky Senior Care was founded on three pillars

The 3 Pillars of Husky Senior Care

We believe seniors expect and deserve to be heard and served by caregivers who share their language and values.
We believe old age is a significant time in life. Regardless of their physical needs or dementia, each senior has something to offer.
We believe seniors should have the option to stay in a household environment. We’re committed to providing that option via in-home care and adult family homes.
If you or your loved one can't remain at home, consider Longhouse Adult Family Homes.

Aging brings changes. Where you live shouldn't be one of them. Contact us to learn more about our program.

Message from the founder

Making a difference

Giving back to our community

I grew up on the island of Borneo in Indonesia — a land of beautiful rainforests and generous people, but also a lot of poverty and need, especially among the young. My Dad is a Christian pastor; my mom is a nurse. We moved back to the United States when I was 14 years old. I studied history at the University of Washington. I received my undergraduate degree, and then was accepted into the Masters and PhD programs, where I continued my study of U.S. and European intellectual history. Out of this DNA came the founding of Husky Senior Care.

When Victoria and I founded Husky Senior Care, part of the founding vision was to give back in two ways: 1) to support those that are vulnerable and in need and 2) to support the values of freedom, individuality, and self-expression at the base of Western Civilization. This led to a two-pronged commitment to give 1% of our profits to Speak Up for the Poor and 1% of our profits to the University of Washington.

Speak Up for the Poor

We chose Speak Up for two reasons. First, helping young girls trapped in poverty or abuse by providing protection and education has unimpeachable long-term merit. My wife and I have two daughters and we felt this is something we could get permanently behind. Second, the founder of Speak Up, Troy Anderson, is my cousin so I have personal insight into how the money is spent and what is being accomplished. Troy attended the University of Puget Sound and then went on to law school at UCLA. From his years of traveling and living in East Asia, particularly Bangladesh, he has developed contacts, knowledge, and practices that makes him uniquely qualified to accomplish the mission of Speak Up. He is the guy you want doing this. As an aside, I also love the idea of giving some of the money that we earn from serving grandmas and grandpas here in the U.S. to support little girls in places that are much worse off. Read more about Speak Up for the Poor in their own words below. Maybe you’ll catch the vision too!

Speak Up exists to transform the world on behalf of the poor, particularly girls in poverty. Our mission is to build an international network of Justice Centers which speak up for the poor.

We advocate for the poor in three inter-connected ways:

Homes

We catalyze and fund the growth of homes for girls born into brothels, rescued from trafficking, or otherwise at risk of exploitation and abuse. Our goal is to ensure that no girl anywhere in the world is forced into prostitution.

Education

We run a Girls Education Program which sponsors girls in poverty to stay in school and on the path to success. Our goal is to transform the way the world thinks about poor girls, and to ensure that girls in poverty are free to live up to their fullest potential.

Justice

We investigate human rights abuses and do practical casework for the poor, and work with local authorities and law schools to train indigenous lawyers and advocates for the poor. Our goal is to build an international army of advocates for the poor who fight for justice through their local justice system.

Visit Website to Learn More

University of Washington

I chose the University of Washington because of my experience with certain professors in the history department and my love for the Western Tradition. UW is my alma mater, but it really stands in for all universities that at least in part teach the arts and humanities that underlay the freedoms that we enjoy. For me, this value is summed up in the following quote.

At school you are engaged not so much in acquiring knowledge as in making mental efforts under criticism. A certain amount of knowledge you can indeed with average faculties acquire so as to retain; nor need you regret the hours you spent on much that is forgotten, for the shadow of lost knowledge at least protects you from many illusions. But you go to a great school not so much for knowledge as for arts and habits; for the habit of attention, for the art of expression, for the art of assuming at a moment’s notice a new intellectual position, for the art of entering quickly into another person’s thoughts, for the habit of submitting to censure and refutation, for the art of indicating assent or dissent in graduated terms, for the habit of regarding minute points of accuracy, for the art of working out what is possible in a given time, for taste, for discrimination, for mental courage, and for mental soberness.

William Johnson (later Cory), King’s Scholar 1832-41, Master 1845-72, in his Eton Reform II as adapted by George Lyttleton in writing to Rupert Hart-Davis

Professor Richard Johnson read this to us at the outset of my graduate studies in History at UW. I try to direct our giving to UW towards programs, students, and professors who embody this mission.