Illinois
Illinois is poised to become a national leader in supporting family caregivers
Chances are you’ll be a caregiver for those who drive a good friend to physician’s appointments or operating errands. For those who cook dinner or clear or assist a member of the family with bill-paying. For those who assist a cherished one with medicine or medical tools.
As former first girl Roslyn Carter usually stated, “There are solely 4 kinds of individuals on the earth — those that have been caregivers, those that are at present caregivers, those that will probably be caregivers and those that will want caregivers.”
November is Nationwide Household Caregivers Month. In Illinois, we see exceptional progress in the direction of supporting household and good friend caregivers with the creation of a brand new statewide broad-based coalition of stakeholders referred to as the Illinois Household Caregiver Coalition. Powered by Illinois Ageing Providers and Illinois Space Companies on Ageing, the 200-strong coalition contains caregivers, statewide associations, and nonprofit organizations.
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The coalition is targeted on the info highlighting the excessive variety of unpaid caregivers (one in 5 all through the nation), the lengthy hours of care supplied and the big quantities of cash spent from their very own pockets towards take care of family members. In line with the 2022 AARP Illinois Survey on Household Caregiving and Lengthy-Time period Care, “there are almost 1.5 million caregivers who present greater than 1.24 billion hours of unpaid care valued at over $17 billion every year. It is usually estimated that household caregivers spend a median of $7,242 every year on care for his or her family members.”
We name on the governor and his administration to place Illinois as a nationwide chief supporting household caregivers. Final 12 months’s finances was a robust begin, however extra is required to help household caregivers and to attain long-term care cost-savings in Illinois.
We problem the enterprise neighborhood, advantages specialists, and administration groups to up their sport supporting present and future staff who additionally present casual caregiving in Illinois.
We invite you to hitch us in celebrating Household Caregivers Month and offering a voice for unpaid caregivers in Illinois now and sooner or later.
Amy Brennan, govt director, Illinois Household Caregiver Coalition
Braveness in Colorado Springs
It’s a disgrace that the Uvalde, Texas police division didn’t have some LGBTQ drag queens on their drive. Maybe that tragedy wouldn’t have been as horrific if that they had displayed the braveness of those that subdued the mass shooter in Colorado Springs.
Tom Scorby, St. Charles, IL