Today we’d like to introduce you to Selena Boyd.
Hi Selena, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Georgia born & Florida raised, I am a true Southern Girl with the Southern Hospitality to go along with it. I was raised by parents who taught the importance of working hard and being the very best at each tasks, no matter how small. They also taught me to love my neighbor and to always be a resource whenever time allowed. These characteristics stayed with me and led me to Oakwood University in Huntsville, AL, where I received my BBA.
While in college pursuing a degree in Healthcare Administration, I worked as a caregiver for a local home health agency. Upon graduation, I was promoted to a lead administrative position in that same company. During my tenure in the home health arena, I coordinated caregiving services for many patients, but we were not able to transport patients to their appointments. I witnessed the toll it took on the main caregiver. Unfortunately, I had to make a career change and became an administrator at a local university. While I loved helping students and was very good at my job, something was missing. My mother and I began the groundwork on a 2 phase business that would get me back into the healthcare arena and still be able to help people.
In 2019, my mother became terminally ill and the transportation barrier became my reality. With her living in another state, it was very difficult to manage her rides through various friends and family. In those moments, I wished a single reliable transportation option was available. In her honor, I decided to do my part to make sure that families in Northern Alabama did not have this same obstacle; I created, Created 2 Care, a Non-Emergency Medical Transportation company dedicated to providing comfortable, affordable, reliable and efficient transportation to the community.
Today, Created 2 Care is happy to be actively fulfilling our mission of bridging the gap in healthcare accessibility by partnering with insurance companies, facilities and organizations to ensure that patients are able to be seen for procedures, routine visits and follow-up appointments.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
While I always knew I would work in healthcare, I’d always imagined it would be in an administrative position for a health system, not as an entrepreneur. As life would have it, I wasn’t working in healthcare at all – I was great at my job but miserable inside. I stepped out on faith to do what I was passionate about and launched Created 2 Care with 100% self-funding. Talk about crazy faith! But I had so much passion for this initiative and knew my city needed it. That said, the road was not smooth at all.
I launched Created 2 Care in February 2020 and the United States closed down due to COVID in March 2020. Operations didn’t begin until October of that year. That’s a long time without a paycheck! Since then, as you can imagine with any transportation company, various problems arise like driver shortages, vehicles having mechanical issues (and listen, I could probably add a mechanic to my resume) and of course gas prices!! Those gas prices almost took me out. However, here we are in 2023, still kicking. The road has not been easy but the people we’ve helped, the lives we helped to save it’s been worth it.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Created 2 Care?
One day, I was on the phone with my best friend while at Walmart. While getting into my car, there was a lady struggling to get into her car with her walker. I immediately asked her if she needed my help. As a result, my friend said, “Selena, you really are Created 2 Care.” And you know what? My best friend is right. This company is known for transporting clients to non-emergent medical appointments, but we are so much more than that. We transport foster children to and from school, familial visits and other appointments; we pick up and deliver prescription meds; we even partner with 211 to give a number of these rides for free to those who need it. One of the most special offerings that set us apart from others is that we offer waiting services. Sometimes, a procedure calls for the driver to wait in the lobby until the client is done. No other company provides this service. We will wait until the procedure is finished, drive the client home, and provide door-to-door service to make sure they make it safely into their residence. At Created 2 Care, we genuinely care about our clients. We do not only say that we treat each client like family, we live it. The drivers all have a caregiving background and their compassion shines through organically. Every client feels cared for and that makes me most proud of this brand.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.created2care.org
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/created2carehsv
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/created2carehsv
Image Credits
Neville Simpson
