Damon and Personal Care Assistant Kaylee with the late comedian Gilbert Gottfried at a performance.
How does having the right care and support make a real difference in your life?
The shortage of home care workers has had a tremendous impact on those of us who rely on home care services. The time, energy, and difficulty of finding workers leaves people with disabilities feeling very vulnerable, burdensome, and at times with little hope. This in turn inhibits our ability to have the security and stability in our lives that most people take for granted. Due to our inability to hire and retain quality home care workers our health, safety, and dignity needs have not been met. Without our basic needs being met, it's impossible to know what the future will look like. Planning for employment, time with family and friends, or getting involved in our communities have been set aside because survival has become our primary task.
Due to the difficulty of finding home care workers I have begun to rely increasingly more on my parents to provide for my care. This solution, however, is not sustainable as my parents are now in their late seventies and have much less ability to help me than they once did. Many of my cares that are easily done by one home care worker requires both of my parents working together to accomplish. This has left me increasingly concerned about their and my safety as well as what the future has in store for me.
Share something important that you were able to do or an event you were able to attend, or something else you were able to take part in because you had the care and support you needed.
I don’t know if there is one particular event that stands out but having enough caregivers to provide the support I need has allowed me to work for over 30 years, attend various concerts and sporting events, stay involved in the community, travel to Toronto, Calgary, Germany, Washington DC, Phoenix, Cancun, and most importantly Rapid City for my brother’s retirement from the Air Force after over 20 years of service.
Conversely, when you don’t have enough support, you simplify every aspect of your life and focus solely on trying to find help with the basic needs you have to survive. Going to school, working, getting together with family and friends, or just getting out of the house for a few hours a week becomes a luxury.
What is something else you want others to know about caring professionals.
When you become a caregiver, you quickly realize how important your job is and the responsibility you have. Understanding your client’s needs and providing them with compassionate and dignified support has an enormously positive impact on their lives. Your dedication and hard work might go unnoticed by the average person, but to your clients you play a vital role in promoting the health, stability, and life that most people take for granted.
