The Caregiver Who Built the Support System She Needed
At 2 a.m., while much of the world is asleep, millions of caregivers are awake.
They're managing medications, responding to changes in a loved one's health, making difficult decisions, and carrying an emotional weight that often goes unseen. The hardest moments rarely happen inside a doctor's office—they happen in the quiet hours between appointments, when questions outnumber answers and support feels out of reach.
For Tara Hamberger, those moments became deeply personal while caring for her grandmother through dementia.
Despite spending more than a decade designing systems and solving complex operational challenges across healthcare, SaaS, and nonprofit organizations, nothing prepared her for becoming a caregiver.
"I had moments where I just needed to vent, say what I was feeling without filtering it," Tara recalls. "But I didn't want the shame or judgment that can come with that."
Like millions of family caregivers, she carried much of that burden alone.
That experience would eventually lead her to build RootedCare+, the support system she wished had existed when her family needed it most.
From Caregiver to Founder
Tara Hamberger, Founder & CEO of RootedCare+, pictured with her grandmother—the inspiration behind a platform that helps caregivers feel seen, and supported.
Tara often describes RootedCare+ as a product of lived experience rather than a business idea.
While caring for her grandmother—whom she affectionately calls her Nanna—she saw firsthand how caregiving extends far beyond medical appointments. There were forms to complete, decisions to make, unexpected challenges, and countless moments when emotional exhaustion collided with practical realities.
She also watched her mother navigate those same responsibilities with quiet strength.
"My mom has influenced me the most," Tara says. "She showed me what it means to show up consistently for others, often without support, recognition, or clear instructions."
Watching her mother advocate, solve problems, and care for others shaped Tara's own philosophy about leadership.
"Care is not a concept; it's action."
That lesson continues to guide every decision she makes.
Building Technology That Feels Human
The idea behind RootedCare+ wasn't to create another healthcare platform.
It was to make support feel more human. "It was a mix of frustration and loneliness," Tara says. "The more I sat with that, the more I realized it wasn't just me."
She recognized that caregivers weren't simply looking for information. They needed somewhere they could be honest without fear of judgment.
A place where someone—or something—would simply respond.
That insight became RootedCare+.
Instead of asking caregivers to download another app or navigate another complicated system, RootedCare+ meets them where they already are: through text messaging.
Whether someone reaches out in the middle of the night feeling overwhelmed or receives a simple check-in asking, "How are you holding up tonight?" the goal is the same—to remind caregivers they don't have to navigate those moments alone.
RootedCare+ ensures caregivers receive compassionate support when they need it most: through a simple text message.
Making the invisible visible
For Tara, one lesson became clear during her caregiving journey: emotional and practical challenges are impossible to separate.
"The stress usually is tied to something practical—money, time, access, decisions," she explains. "You can't talk someone down emotionally if the actual problem sitting underneath it is, 'I can't afford this,' or 'I don't know what to do next.'"
Caregivers rarely experience one challenge at a time. They may be emotionally exhausted while trying to navigate insurance paperwork, coordinate appointments, manage medications,
or make difficult financial decisions for someone they love. That understanding shaped every aspect of RootedCare+. Rather than offering emotional support in one place and financial resources in another, the platform was designed as one continuous conversation. A caregiver can begin by expressing how they're feeling, receive practical guidance for the situation they're facing, and, when appropriate, be connected to resources or microgrants—all without leaving a simple text conversation.
"Before people need solutions, they need to feel seen," Tara says. "Then they need support that actually helps them move forward."
More Human future For care
Tara doesn't measure success by how many people adopt another platform. She envisions a future where support is woven into the systems people already trust—through healthcare providers, employers, health plans, and community organizations—so caregivers never have to search for help when they're already overwhelmed.
"It's still SMS," she says. "You text, it responds, it knows you, it checks in. It becomes something people rely on without thinking twice about it."
At its core, RootedCare+ isn't about technology—it's about ensuring no caregiver has to navigate life's hardest moments alone. "This isn't theory for me," Tara says. "This came from living it." And if there's one measure of success, she adds, it's this: "If someone can reach out at their lowest point and not feel alone—and actually walk away with something that helps—that's what matters."
Meet the Founder
Tara Hamberger is a caregiver, technologist, and founder of RootedCare+, an AI-powered platform that provides unpaid family caregivers with real-time support, practical guidance, and access to financial resources. Inspired by caring for her grandmother through dementia, she's reimagining care as something that is continuous, accessible, and deeply human.
