Non-medical companionship · Manhattan, Brooklyn & Queens
Give yourself peace of mind while your loved one stays curious, out in the city and genuinely engaged. We match them with a vetted university student — pre-med, nursing, psychology, public health — for standing visits with the same familiar face. Museums, errands, appointments, arguments about books.
$65 an hour, three-hour minimum — $195 for a first visit. No retainer, no contract, no monthly fee.
Nursing, Columbia · Senior
Interviewed in person · Conversational Spanish
One four-hour visit, most weeks
4 hours × $65 = $260 for the afternoon. Nothing owed the weeks you skip.
Coordinated by Marguerite D. — your direct line, seven days a week.
What we do
We are a non-medical service, by design. Our scholars are bright, warm and reliable — they are not home health aides, and we never blur that line.
On any visit, at no extra charge.
These need a licensed agency. Ask and we'll happily refer you.
Scholar & Care LLC is not a licensed home care services agency and does not provide skilled nursing, personal care or medical services of any kind.
The people who show up
Every scholar is an active student at a New York university on a clinical or care-adjacent track, chosen as much for warmth as for transcript, and met face to face before we place them. You meet your match before anything is booked, and you keep the same person — we don't rotate staff.
"My grandmother lived with us until I was fifteen. I know what an afternoon of real attention does for someone."
"Mr. Feldman and I are three books into Robert Caro. He corrects my pronunciation of every street in the Bronx."
"Most of what I do is listen well and remember what was said last week. It matters more than people expect."
"We walk the reservoir loop twice a week. Rain days we do the greenmarket instead. She sets the pace."
"His iPad had 4,000 unread emails and no photos of his grandchildren. We fixed both in a month."
"Her daughter is in Chicago. I send a note after every visit so she knows exactly how the week went."
Vetting
You are letting someone new into your home, or your loved one's. We have never placed a scholar we haven't sat across a table from, and we'll show you the file on your scholar if you'd like to see it.
No one is placed on the strength of a résumé and a video call. We sit down with every candidate in person to judge warmth, patience and social poise — the things a transcript can't show and a screen tends to flatter.
Multi-state criminal database, county-level records for prior addresses, national sex offender registry, and identity verification. Re-run annually for every active scholar.
We call three academic and professional references by phone, and confirm current enrollment directly with the university. Then a supervised shadow visit before anyone works alone.
General and professional liability coverage, plus bonding on every scholar. A certificate of insurance is available to any client on request — just ask your coordinator.
How booking works
Four fields on this page, or a phone call if you'd rather. We ask about interests, the neighborhood and what a good afternoon looks like.
One or two profiles chosen for personality fit, with the vetting file behind each and whatever credentials they hold.
Three hours minimum, $65 an hour, paid after the visit. You get a written note the same evening.
If it went well, we set a standing day and hold it for you. If the chemistry wasn't there, tell us and we'll find a better match.
Pricing
No retainer, no membership, no monthly minimum. You pay for the hours a scholar is actually with you, and nothing on the weeks you don't book.
Set a visit length and how often, and we'll do the arithmetic.
Monthly figures assume about 4.3 weeks and are an estimate only — you're billed per visit, so a month with a vacation in it simply costs less. Visits run three hours or longer; we don't book one-hour drop-ins, because they aren't long enough to be worth anyone's afternoon. Your written service agreement governs actual billing.
The smallest commitment we offer, and the only one we recommend making at the start.
Three hours at $65. Paid after the visit, not before.
For professionals
Much of our work comes from people who see the gap before the family does — the client who is medically fine and desperately bored. We'll take a call from you any time, and we'll tell you honestly when a client isn't right for us.
No referral fees in either direction. We think they distort advice.
Email partners@scholarandcare.comQuestions
That's a job for a licensed home care agency rather than a companion service — hands-on personal care and medication handling both require one in New York. A scholar can give a verbal reminder that it's four o'clock and the pills are in the kitchen, but can't open the bottle or hand them over.
Just mention it when you get in touch and we'll introduce you to an agency we trust, at no cost. Plenty of households use both: an aide for personal care, a scholar for company.
Really none. Visits are $65 an hour with a three-hour minimum, invoiced after the visit rather than before. There's no retainer, no membership, no monthly fee and no card kept on file. Book one visit a week, one a month, or one and never again.
Cancel or reschedule any visit free with at least 24 hours' notice. Inside 24 hours we bill the three-hour minimum, because the scholar has already held the afternoon. If a first visit genuinely falls flat, tell us and we won't bill it — we'd rather know than keep the $195.
By meeting them. A transcript tells us someone is capable; it says nothing about whether they can hold a conversation with an eighty-eight-year-old for three hours without checking their phone. So every candidate sits down with us in person, and we watch for the things a video call flatters — warmth, patience, listening, poise, how they handle being interrupted or corrected.
Candidates who clear that go on a supervised shadow visit before they're ever placed alone. It's the slowest part of our process and the part we'd least like to skip.
Credentials vary from scholar to scholar. Some hold current CPR/AED certification, some carry EMT or CNA training, and some hold neither — we'll tell you exactly what your matched scholar holds before you book.
What every scholar has in common is the vetting: nationwide background checks, an in-person interview, verified references and a supervised shadow visit. In an emergency, each one is trained to call 911 first and you second.
A nationwide multi-state criminal database search, county-level courthouse records for prior addresses, the national sex offender registry, and identity verification. We confirm current enrollment with the university and call three references by phone. Screening also includes a full in-person interview and a supervised shadow visit.
Checks are re-run annually, and any placed scholar must notify us of an arrest within 24 hours as a condition of their agreement. If you'd like to see the completed file for the scholar matched to your household, ask your coordinator and we'll send it.
We re-match, at no cost and without a difficult conversation. Since there's nothing to cancel, the worst case is one afternoon that didn't land. Tell your coordinator what was off and we'll present new profiles, or we'll leave it there with no hard feelings. Chemistry is the whole product — a scholar no one enjoys talking to is worth nothing to you.
Scholars commit to a full academic term at minimum, and we plan winter and summer breaks with you six weeks ahead. Many stay in the city and keep their day. Where they don't, we introduce a covering scholar in advance so the handover happens with an introduction rather than a surprise. You are never told about a change the week it happens.
Often, yes — companionship and routine engagement matter a great deal in early stages, and some of our scholars have completed dementia-aware communication training. We'll tell you honestly when you get in touch if we think the fit is right.
What we cannot provide is supervision for someone who can't safely be left with a non-medical companion, who wanders, or who needs hands-on assistance. That's a clinical judgment a physician should make, not us.
All of Manhattan, brownstone and downtown Brooklyn, and western Queens — Long Island City, Astoria, Forest Hills, Rego Park and Kew Gardens. We're expanding as the roster grows. If you're just outside these areas, ask anyway; travel time is often workable for a longer visit.
Get in touch
Families on the left, students on the right. Both reach a real person — expect a reply within one business day.
Four fields is all we need to call you back. Everything else we'll cover on the phone — that's our job, not yours.
Paid, flexible, and unlike anything else on your résumé. We hire on judgment and warmth as much as on transcript, and every finalist meets us in person.
Start with a single afternoon — three hours, $195, invoiced afterward. If it changes the shape of someone's week, book the next one.
Scholar & Care LLC is a non-medical companion and concierge service. This page describes precisely what our scholars are authorized to do, and what they are prohibited from doing under any circumstances.
Scholars hold different credentials. Some hold current CPR/AED certification, some hold EMT or CNA training, and some hold neither. No scholar may perform a task outside the scope above regardless of what credentials they personally hold. We disclose the credentials of your matched scholar before any visit is booked.
If the care you or your loved one needs falls outside this scope, tell us. We maintain relationships with licensed home care agencies in New York City and will make an introduction at no cost. Many households use a licensed aide for personal care and a Scholar & Care scholar for company — the two work well side by side.
Scholars are trained to call 911 first and the family contact second in any emergency. Companion services are not a substitute for emergency medical care.
Companion visits are billed at $65 per hour. There is no retainer, membership fee, monthly minimum or enrollment charge of any kind.
All visits are booked in blocks of three consecutive hours or more. The minimum charge for any visit is therefore $195. We do not schedule shorter visits.
Visits are invoiced after they take place, typically weekly, payable within 14 days. No payment method is required in advance and no card is kept on file unless you ask us to.
Any visit may be cancelled or rescheduled at no charge with at least 24 hours' notice. Inside 24 hours, the three-hour minimum is billed, because the scholar has already reserved the time. There is no contract and no notice period — simply stop booking.
If a first visit does not go well, tell your coordinator within 48 hours and we will not invoice it. We would rather understand the mismatch than collect the fee.
Rates and terms shown on this website are for planning purposes. The written service agreement signed by the client governs all rates, minimums, invoicing and cancellation terms.
We collect only the information you submit through the forms on this site and the information you share with a coordinator. We use it to evaluate fit, propose a match and deliver visits.
Background check results, references and academic verification are stored securely and shared only with the client household matched to that scholar, on request.
Write to care@scholarandcare.com at any time to request a copy of the information we hold about you, or to ask us to delete it.