Now All Working Washingtonians Can Afford Home Care Support When They Need It

Alyssa’s Story

I came from a long line of caregivers. My mother was a caregiver when I was growing up, and my grandmother was a caregiver. I’ve been doing it professionally now for 15 years.

Some people think long-term care is only for folks who are really old or disabled.

The client that I currently care for never thought he would need long-term home care support. He was a truck driver who had a heart attack one day and was diagnosed with diabetes after being in the hospital. He not only lost his ability to work but also his passion. He started going downhill physically and mentally. He never thought that would happen to him at such an early age.

When I think about it in relation to myself, I don’t want to put the burden of my home care support on my daughter. But I know it’s just reality so we do have to have the conversations.

We’re a multi-generational caregiving family. My mom and I have been talking about what she wants when she needs long-term home care support for as long as 30 years.  Now, as a single mom, I’m thinking more about what I’ll want.

My mother says, “when my time comes, I’m just gonna move in with you.” But we never talked about what that costs. Or what will happen if she needs care before I’m retired. Neither of us are financially prepared for that.

“Should my mother need care before I’m retired, I’m gonna have to quit my job to take care of her. I’m not financially prepared for that. And she doesn’t make a whole lot more money than I do, so she’s not financially prepared for that either.”

The Washington Cares Fund is a huge relief to me. Now I know that if my mom needs home care support before I’m ready to retire, I will not lose my income just to take care of her. We can even use Washington Cares money to hire a family member to be her caregiver.

The Washington Cares Fund will provide folks like us – working Washingtonians – with flexible funds for home care support aides, modifying our home, or medical equipment. That way, we can stay in our home, where most of us want to be.

When WA Cares was announced, my mom’s employer handed her a packet and said, “you can opt out of it if you sign up for this long-term care insurance.” She looked into it and found out it would cost her $400 a month for her policy.

Even if she could have afforded that corporate policy, there was absolutely no guarantee that I would be able to be her caretaker. And that was a very important piece to us, that I be able to be the one to take care of her.
Now I’m confident I can keep on going to work and taking care of others, knowing my mother and daughter (and I) will get the home care support we need, when we need it.

Video Transcript

My name is Alyssa Evans. I’ve been a home care aide in Sedro Woolley Washington for almost 15 years now. I came from a long line of caregivers. My mother was a caregiver when I was growing up, my grandmother was a caregiver. And I just kind of went, “oh, okay, I can do that.” 

The client that I currently take care of, he never really thought that he would need long-term care. He was a truck driver and he didn’t really think of his job as being very physical. And then, one day he had a heart attack, and while he was in the hospital he found out he was diabetic. They took away his CDL. And that took away his job. And that took away his ability to work. And from there he just started going downhill. He had no idea that that could happen to him at such an early age. 

I’m a single mom and I think that being a caregiver, and especially being the third-generation caregiver that I am, and the fact that I’ve spent the last 30 years talking with my mom about her long-term care needs and what she wants, and that kind of put me in the mind frame of thinking about what I want. I feel like it’s a conversation that a lot more families just need to have. 

Should my mother need the cost…need the care before I’m retired, you know, I’m going to have to quit my job to take care of my mother. And I’m not financially prepared for that. And she doesn’t make a whole lot more money than I do, so she’s not financially prepared for that. She was a single mom, raised me and my siblings on her own. It was just, the cost of care was something we never really considered. 

And so now that these conversions are becoming more open in our family, and with Washington Cares, knowing that that’s going to be implemented now, it’s huge relief to me because now I know that if my mom needs care before I’m ready to retire, I will not lose my income just to take care of her.