Fully Fund Home Care Providers

Dear Editor,

I live in Wolf Point where I work as a caregiver for my daughter, Mindy, who is now 49 years old. She just had a birthday and was only supposed to live for five to six years so every year is a celebration for us. Mindy was born with a condition called Spinobiffida and is totally handicapped. She lives her life in a wheelchair, and I do everything for her. I get 30 hours a week for her care, but that only covers half of the time I work with her.

I'm not the only one in my community that does this kind of work. Lots of people in Wolf Point are caring for family members who can't live on their own. We're all in the same boat - not enough pay, not enough hours, struggling just to get to the next paycheck. In Washington state caregivers make $20 an hour starting pay, while in Montana it's taken me 24 years to get up $13.88 an hour. That's not right! We do the same work they do; we provide the same levels of care for our clients. Why should we have to suffer? Because our Legislature has failed us. They have repeatedly failed year after year to provide adequate funding for the work we do.

Thankfully the state has a massive $2 billion budget surplus. So no more excuses. Our families and communities need the money badly. It's been a constant challenge to keep good caregivers. If lawmakers don't do something, more caregivers are going to quit, and their clients are ultimately the ones that will pay the price. It's not too late to pass a budget that fully funds home care providers and includes inflationary indexes, like the Guide House study recommends. Please act now to deliver the kind of future that both caregivers and clients deserve.

Sincerely,

Winnifred Schafer

Wolf Point, Mont.