Letter to the Editor - Congress should support home care workers

The global pandemic has hit Montana as hard as it has anywhere else in the country. Worker shortages, hospitalizations and products that are hard to find and are making things tough on all of us.  

But it hit the most vulnerable hardest of all. People like me care for the disabled, elderly and others who simply need to be taken care of in their homes.  

We don’t do this for the pay, which is almost too low to support a family. We do it because it makes our communities stronger and it’s what our clients need and deserve.  

We do whatever it takes to help the people we work for: bathing, buying groceries, cooking dinner and so much more. But our leaders have not had our back when push comes to shove. 

In-home caregivers and our clients needed more help before the pandemic, but now we’re in a crisis mode.

Politicians in Washington, D.C., have been talking to themselves without taking us into account for too long and it’s time to act.  

There are proposals in Congress right now that would address the low pay, high turnover cycle that plagues our profession. We call on all of Montana’s representatives in Congress to listen to us: Please put us first and approve new funding to support home care workers.  

Winifred Schafer

Wolf Point