Home Care Cooperatives Are First in Industry to Be Certified as B Corporations

The Bronx-based Cooperative Home Care Associates (CHCA) and Home Care Associates (HCA) of Philadelphia, the worker-owned, cooperative home care agencies affiliated with PHI, are the nation’s first home care companies to earn B Corps certification. 

Certified B Corps make a public commitment to considering the impact of their decisions on their employees, suppliers, community, consumers, and environment. This is collectively referred to as the triple bottom line — people, planet, and profits.

Both CHCA and HCA received certification scores of more than 150 out of a possible 200 points on the B Impact Assessment — nearly double the threshold required for certification. This reflects the strong commitment of both organizations to having social impact — both in the lives of unemployed women trained for home care jobs and in the lives of the low-income elders and people with disabilities they serve.

“CHCA is proud to qualify as a B Corporation,” said CHCA Executive Vice President Adria Powell. “For more than 27 years, our cooperative has provided quality employment opportunities for low-income, unemployed individuals in our community.”

HCA President Karen Kulp adds, “Ultimately, becoming a B Corporation will help us to strengthen what we do best: providing high-quality jobs and worker ownership opportunities for low-income, unemployed women and ensuring quality care for residents throughout our city.”

The worker-owned cooperative home care companies join more than 650 B Corporations from over 60 industries, representing a diverse multi-billion dollar marketplace. Certification is provided by B Lab, a nonprofit dedicated to using the power of business to solve social and environmental problems.

“As the country grapples with the rapidly increasing demand for quality long-term services and supports in the home, CHCA and HCA are redefining what it means to be a successful healthcare business,” said Jay Coen Gilbert, B Lab cofounder. 

“Not only are these companies creating greater access to affordable, quality home care in low-income communities but they are also creating greater economic opportunity for their worker owners,” Gilbert said.

The B Lab assessments, which document both CHCA’s and for HCA’s performance in areas of “Governance,” “Workers,” “Community,” and “Environment,” are available online.

— by Deane Beebe