Neighborhood Concierge: One-Stop Shop for Busy Families of Lake Nona

There is an enormous range of different product and business ideas that get tossed around every day. It seems like anyone who has an ounce of entrepreneurial spirit holds at least two or three of these so-called good ideas in their proverbial back pocket. Maria Dede, a resident of Village Walk, had an idea that will likely become successful here in Lake Nona very soon.

Maria, now a U.S. citizen, moved to the United States from Hungary 19 years ago. When she arrived in New York City, she had only $20 in her pocket and could not speak one word of English. She came to the U.S. because she understood it to be a land of opportunity and financial freedom. For many years in Hungary, Maria worked in accounting, but she refused to become a member of the Communist Party, so the Hungarian government took her job away. Later, she became a restaurant and bar owner where she had success, but she still wanted to enjoy more freedom to earn money that the U.S. economy offered. Maria grew up as one of six children on a farm, so she knew with her work ethic her life here in the United States would be a better fit for her.

Lake Nona Publications — Maria Dede, Neighborhood Concierge

“I’ve worked since I was 12 years old. Because we were on a farm, we always had food on the table, but never any money. This meant that I had to work both at home and outside of the home at a very early age to help out the family,” said Maria.

Maria and her husband, Richard, recently moved to Lake Nona from New Jersey because Richard is the Senior Director of Finance with the United States Tennis Association (USTA). As the USTA began to make plans to move their national campus to Orlando, Maria and Richard volunteered to move as well. Although Maria never imagined being a resident of Florida, both she and her husband like the warm weather and the ability to live very close to where Richard now works.

Throughout the move from the Northeast to Central Florida, Maria noticed how cumbersome the entire process was: the packing, the unpacking, and finding new stores and services. Soon, an idea started to form. When she began looking for a dry cleaner to pick up and deliver, the idea was complete and her new business was formed: Neighborhood Concierge.

Neighborhood Concierge is a service that handles all of an individual’s or family’s daily needs and wants while they go about the business of running their lives. Cooking, moving, packing, unpacking, pickup and delivery of groceries (Whole Foods included), in-house laundry, dry cleaning, housekeeping, babysitting, pet sitting, handyman and maintenance services. Pretty much anything a Nonahood resident needs, Maria and Neighborhood Concierge can handle it. All employees and vendors of Neighborhood Concierge who have direct contact with clients have background screenings to ensure the safety of all those involved. Through establishing business relationships with multiple service providers, Neighborhood Concierge has the ability to find the best prices and highest quality, then pass those benefits on to their clients.

Maria has combined groupings of specific services into packages to fit the needs of specific clients, however, anyone has the ability to mix and match any service that Neighborhood Concierge provides. With more and more families who have both the mother and the father working, Maria feels that Neighborhood Concierge can be a beneficial asset to many Lake Nona residents.