Today’s episode features two working sons and showcases the unique challenges male family caregivers face. Zack Demopoulos is the host of the Raisins Rents podcast and shares his story as a working son caring for his Greek parents. Josh Lamont is the founder of JRL Strategies and shares his story on the frustrations of not knowing about both state and non-profit programs that could have helped his aging veteran father earlier.

Key Takeaways:

[1:25] When Zack’s father got sick, he had no idea what to do. He was completely lost in this process.

[2:30] Zack’s parents are greek immigrants and the service he hired to help them was so rude and disrespectful that his mother had a hard time even considering help again after she fired them.

[7:00] Zack runs his own business and can take time off to go visit and take care of mom. People think it’s easy because he has a flexible schedule, but it’s not. When he leaves, his business suffers.

[9:15] Zack believes childcare is well-covered topic in the corporate world, but the topic of eldercare is not.

[10:45] What kind of challenges do men in caregiving face?

[14:40] Zack felt so guilty at first when he was located so far away from his parents.

[17:15] What can the women do to support men in caregiving?

[18:35] We turn to Josh now to share his story and why his life was changed in 2014.

[20:35] When it came to Josh’s mom and her health deteriorating rapidly, he felt he had to blame work for not coming to see her. He was stuck because he didn’t want to face the facts.

[21:55] Josh’s father had Parkinson's, and when he finally made it out to see his parents, he noticed his dad was in far worse shape than he thought.

[25:00] What kind of challenges did Josh have when it came to caring for his father?

[29:15] How did Josh balance work and caring for his father?

[32:10] Josh found out his father was in debt and that hugely impacted his finances as well.

[39:15] Through a Vietnam veteran’s program, Josh was able to get the financial aid he needed to help care for his father.

[40:00] Really look into the types of benefits you could receive from both the state or non-profit organizations!

Mentioned in This Episode:

Raisingparentspodcast.com

Jrlstrategies.com

Working Daughter book