Hartford Honors Essential Home Care Workers
Published on September 03, 2020
HARTFORD, CONN (September 3, 2020) – Today Mayor Luke Bronin announced that the City of Hartford will honor essential home care workers and celebrate the first-ever National Home Care Day on September 4. Hartford’s more than 700 home care workers – who are predominantly women and people of color – are on the front lines, risking their own lives and the lives of their families to keep Connecticut’s parents, grandparents, and loved ones with disabilities safe during the pandemic.
“Home care workers have some of the most important jobs in our country, especially during the pandemic, and all of us join together to express our appreciation for them and celebrate their invaluable contributions to our society,” said Mayor Bronin. “They are providing compassionate care for seniors and people with disabilities who are at highest-risk from coronavirus. Home care workers have not always gotten the recognition they deserve, but fortunately through their union, many home care workers have been able to win significant raises and other improvements. We need to continue to raise up and honor these heroic caregivers, so we can ensure we have the quality workforce that will care for our city and state’s aging population.”
Connecticut’s population is among the oldest in the nation. Right now, 10,000 adults throughout the U.S. are turning 65 every day, and the country will need more than a million new home care jobs to care for our seniors over the next decade. This rising demand for long-term care services has made home care one of the fastest-growing jobs in America. But the historic undervaluing of home care workers, which is rooted in systemic racism and sexism, has contributed to a severe workforce shortage. Connecticut’s home care workers are about 80 percent women, 60 percent people of color and 30 percent immigrants.
These dedicated caregivers carry out all the duties that allow their high-risk clients to live with safety and dignity in their own homes, including bathing, feeding, grocery shopping, picking up prescriptions, taking them to the doctor and making sure they take their medications on time. Home care workers not only care for their clients’ physical needs, but also their mental and emotional well-being.
“For me, home care work is a calling,” said Ebony Moore, who has been a home care worker in Hartford for over 15 years. “It’s tough work but I stay with it because I love my clients like family, and I’m often the only person in their lives who can help them. Although I support and care for others, it’s really difficult to support myself. Thanks to my union we recently got a raise, but the cost of living keeps going up, and it’s a struggle to pay for my car, rent, groceries and utilities. I want to thank Mayor Bronin and all my neighbors in Hartford for honoring Home Care Day. It’s time that society starts to value our work, because most families will need a caregiver eventually.”
Despite their crucial work, many home care workers in Connecticut and throughout the nation struggle with poverty wages and a lack of benefits. Non-union home care workers at private agencies in Connecticut often make the state’s minimum wage of just $12 an hour, and some work without personal protective equipment, paid sick leave, healthcare or training opportunities. Home care workers have also struggled to access adequate masks and gloves to protect themselves and their clients during the pandemic.
Ten thousand personal care attendants who are members of SEIU 1199 New England recently won a raise to a minimum wage of $16.25 an hour through the state’s Medicaid waiver program. On National Home Care Day, in-home caregivers throughout the state and across the nation are calling for affordable, quality home care services for all; family-sustaining wages and benefits for workers including paid sick days, healthcare and training that recognize workers’ expertise on the front lines; accountability at the Department of Health; personal protective equipment to keep caregivers and consumers of care safe; and the right for all home care workers to join a union.
In Connecticut, home care workers, nursing home workers, group home workers and advocates are also supporting a comprehensive “Long-Term Care Bill of Rights” to create fundamental solutions that ensure quality care for seniors and people with disabilities. The city of Hartford is proud to stand with home care workers as they continue to advocate for themselves, their families and their clients.