In business since July 2018, Andersons’ Errand Services provides services, including picking up prescriptions, groceries, post-office pick-ups, dry cleaning drop-offs & pick-ups, and meal deliveries, to senior citizens across Gwinnett County.
Serving others comes naturally to Deborah. A wife, mother of two young men, and caretaker of her 86-year-old mother, she has done many errands, both in her personal life and through her church ministry.
Back where she grew up in Eufaula, Alabama, Deborah sang in the church choir. After graduating from Alabama A&M University, she got her first job at Fort Rucker, Alabama and continued singing in a church choir. It was after she married and moved to Atlanta, that she saw there was a need to visit the shut-in church members.
“There was one woman I visited for years. Her name was Ms. Frances Lazenberry. She lived at Parkview Manor Nursing Home in Atlanta, and I visited her for about five years. That’s how I got started with the Sick and Shut-In ministry. I could clearly see there were people out there who needed help.” Deborah coordinated the Sick and Shut-In Ministry at Hopewell Baptist Church, under the leadership of Pastor William L. Sheals, for about 10 years. She has been a member there for 30 years.
During the last 20 years, she threw herself whole-heartedly into raising a family and being very active with youth ministries. But she never forgot the gratifying feeling that came from helping senior citizens. A few people she met during those early years inspired her to take the leap of faith and start her business.
With Andersons’ Errand Services, Deborah hopes to impact even more lives. Her goal is to establish trusting relationships with not only her clients but their families as well.
One year, a friend of Ms. Lazenberry asked Deborah to help him find a Christmas present for her, and she complied. Succeeding in that task, Deborah was able to establish trust with not only Ms. Lazenberry but also her best friend and family.
“Establishing a relationship of trust is critical, “said Deborah. “Some of the people I met didn’t have family to help them all the time, and so for those family members, I created a reliable support system they could depend on.”
Starting a business that she could one day share with her family has been Deborah’s fervent wish for many years. And while she realizes that her sons, Kenneth James Anderson, II (KJ) 20 and Austin Jared Anderson (AJ) 15, have interests of their own, Deborah hopes that they will learn from her example and follow their own passions.
“Visiting senior citizens is not for everybody. They truly have to have a heart for it. I guess I love it because I like feeling that I have met a need.”
“In a nutshell, what I do is support senior citizens and families who love them,” said Deborah Anderson, the owner of Andersons’ Errand Services.For inspiration, this caretaker looks to Mark 11:22-24 which reads, “Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore, I say unto you, what things soever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”
Deborah compares these verses to challenges all entrepreneurs face. Her journey has just begun, so Deborah prays, conducts research and maintains a high level of organization to catalyze the growth of her business. “I’m working to get my name out there. I’m planting the seeds, and I trust that it will all pay off.”
Deborah learned to rely on her faith as a teenager when she prayed to be able to meet the financial obligations to attend the college of her dreams and major in a Telecommunications program. While she was academically successful, after several major life changes, her passion has altered.
By caring for her own mother and from her personal experiences with senior citizens, who are a growing part of the population, Deborah understands the importance of having a reliable network or a family member to assist them with tasks that require skills like driving that could put them at risk.
Deborah seeks to work with clients needing the security of having someone on call to help them live independently in their own homes. All they have to do is give her a call, and she will go out and visit them and help them complete the paperwork to sign up for any of her services, which can be bundled as needed to ensure affordability. They can also ask about unlisted services.
“I realize some senior citizens don’t work and are on a budget, so I offer my services at very reasonable prices,” said Deborah whose starting rate is $30.
To reach Deborah, call (404)771-3741 or email andersonserrandservices@gmail.com to learn more about her services which she extends to the entirety of Gwinnett.
