Caregivers who are worth a lot more

North Massapequa, L.I.: We currently have a president who understands that working and caring for your family are not an either-or reality. There is talk of shrinking the $400 billion for home- and community-based services to only $150 billion. We need our New York senators, especially Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, to hear that HCBS needs all $400 billion. People need to work to provide for their families, and where there is a disabled adult (parent/sibling/child) who needs care, we rely on funding for direct care professionals (aka DSPs). They work long hours taking care of the needs of others. They are as important as we know nurses are because they are there when we can’t be. This is backbreaking work that goes unnoticed except by the person they are caring for and their family members. Let’s be honest here — they are family. There are moments that make going into the profession meaningful and rewarding: when an elderly person remembers their name despite the Alzheimer’s; where someone can do more with their arm than they could last week because you have been helping them with their stretches; or when they are able to tell a corny joke with a communication device, such as, “Does Whole Foods sell half-and-half?”

My brother has cerebral palsy and lives with me. I am unable to care for him on my own. I also need to work for us to live, eat and pay taxes. His caregivers are essential workers. Please contact your local officials and urge them to fund a living wage for DCPs and to not cut HCBS funding.