Calling on Congress to pass the $400 billion investment in our caregiver workforce that President Biden has requested, SEIU Local 775 member and home caregiver Lauren Evans wrote an op-ed published today in The Columbian.
Evans shared stories about the critical work she and other caregivers have performed amidst the current global pandemic. “My work keeps my clients, some incredibly vulnerable people, safe. Every day I go into my high-risk clients’ homes. I make sure they have food to eat and the medication they need,” wrote Evans. “It’s my job to help someone out of bed, to help them get dressed, to help them to the bathroom — caregiving is intimate work, and a lot of it can’t be done from 6 feet away.”
She also highlighted that home caregiving simply won’t be a viable profession unless Congress acts soon and substantial funding increases are passed. “It’s an opportunity to recognize caregiving as the in-demand health care profession that it is, and to begin providing essential permanent higher pay for essential work.”
- Read the entire Op-ed
