WA Cares Helps Us Get the Care We Need at Home
Silvia works at Casa Latina in Seattle, advocating for domestic workers. A few years ago, Silvia’s mom needed special care. Silvia supported her mother with in-home care services, helping her with bathing, meals, dressing, and getting around.
Now, Silvia has security, knowing that WA Cares will ensure she and her family can get the care they need at home.
“It’s part of the culture that we have in the Latino community, to take care of our parents, our grandparents, our uncles and aunts.
-Silvia Gonzalez, Seattle, WA
I supported my mom for a long time in that whole process. She felt comfortable because she was being cared for at home, not in an unknown space far away. That was a special time where I had a very close connection with my mother at home. It is so important in our culture to take care of our parents, our grandparents, our uncles and aunts.”
Silvia’s Story
Most of the people who do caregiving work are women, and people of color. Many generations are getting older and older and are going to need and want care within their own home, not in a nursing home.
WA Cares is going to be a huge support for family caregivers and professional home care aides who practice in-home care services. They give their love and bring passion to their work caring for people who really need help to stay in their own homes.
If we’d had WA Cares three years ago when my husband had surgery and couldn’t work, we could have tapped his benefit to pay for a home care aid and maybe I could have taken less time off work.
I believe that home care is one of the best medicines there is and if it is done by someone who loves you, it is even better.
It doesn’t matter how much you earn, we all pay the same small percentage of our income, and get the same benefit.
Knowing I will have WA Cares gives me a sense of security.
The pandemic showed us how our health can change unexpectedly and fast. We never know when we might need care or assistance doing daily activities. Whether you have a pre-existing condition like diabetes or high blood pressure, or whether you suffered a serious injury, WA Cares funds are flexible and allow us to get the care we need right in our own homes. That’s also called in-home care services.
Knowing we’ll have resources to pay someone that will visit our home to help us change, brush our hair, eat a meal – these sound like simple things, but in reality they are necessities. WA Cares gives us the option of paying a professional home care aide, or even paying a member of our family to be our caregiver – that’s something other private long term care insurance policies don’t provide.
$36,500 goes a long way for Home Care.
If you need a wheelchair, or to install ramps, you can use your WA Cares fund benefits to buy the wheelchair. If you need manual equipment to move you from one place to another, you can also use it for that.
And also from that money, you can pay the person who will be assisting you, either the caregiver that you may not know, that will support you, or your own family member that will be supporting you in your own home.
Many of us work as independent contractors, we often don’t have access to company benefits. But with WA Cares, we can opt-in and build our own benefit, paying in only while we are working.
Translated from Spanish:
About three years ago, my mom was visiting and she needed special care at home. I supported her in bathing, feeding, and changing.
It’s so important that I support her in this way. It’s part of the culture that we have in the Latino community, to take care of our parents, our grandparents, our uncles and aunts. And yes, I supported my mom a long time in that whole process. And most importantly, she felt comfortable because she was at home. She was being cared for at home, not in an unknown space far away, but directly with the family.
WA Cares would be super important because we don’t need to get old in order to obtain this benefit. Three years ago, my husband had knee surgery and he was off work for over a month and I was playing my time between vacation and sick days to be able to support him. If WA Cares existed back then, maybe I could have taken a little less time off work to devote to him.
The WA Cares benefit starts at $35,600. That’s great. When I was reading all the information I got more and more hooked because you can use that $36,500 to remodel your home. If you need wheelchairs, install ramps, you can use it to buy the wheelchair itself..if you need manual equipment to move you from one place to another, you can also use it for that. And also from that money, you can pay the person who will be assisting you, either the caregiver that you may not know, that will support you, or your own family member that will be supporting you in your own home.
Caregiving work, most of the people who do that type of work are women and women of color. So WA Cares will be a great opportunity to generate work for other people, even our own family, who will become aware of the great need that is coming in the future. I believe that home care is one of the best medicines there is. And if it is done by someone who loves you, it is even better.
For more information you can go to WeCareForWACares.org
Let Us Know How Long-Term Care Insurance Will Help Your Family.
Learn more about how The WA Cares Fund is providing affordable in-home care services.