Caring Across Generations: Care Congress Launched In San Francisco

Caring Across Generations: Care Congress Launched In San Francisco

On Saturday, August 20, 2011, from noon to 8:00 p.m., an estimated 500 to 600 people – infants to elders, people with disabilities, their advocates, and caregivers --- from across the Western States and California packed Mission High School, 3750 Mission Street, for the first San Francisco Bay Area 'Care Congress: Caring Across Generations,' featuring speakers, dinner, and a cultural event.

James Chionsini, Planning for Elders, told the crowd, “Earlier today I was looking outside, and there were more people in here than there were in [Dolores] park.”

Billing itself as a 'Bay Area Town Hall Meeting', The Care Congress' mission was to prevent “a social crisis of immense proportions,' caused by the effect of Federal and State budget cuts on peoples' lives, the need for jobs, support services requirements for the future Baby Boomer explosion, and, most significantly, the exclusion of domestic workers from the protections other workers enjoy.

Key organizer and planner was Gordon Mar of San Francisco Jobs With Justice.

Co-MCs were Pam Tau Lee, Chinese Progressive Association and Jazzie Collins, Senior Action Network.

Maria Guillen, an activist cherished for her community commitment, proudly announced event sponsors: her organization, San Francisco Department of Aging and Adult Services and Commission; as well as Jobs With Justice; the National Domestic Workers Alliance; California Domestic Workers Coalition; Hand-In-Hand: Domestic Employers Association; Planning For Elders; Senior Action Network; the Gray Panthers; Silicon Valley Independent Living Center; SEIU 1021; The San Francisco Labor Council; The Chinese Progressive Association; the Filipino Community Center, and more.

The Congress convened to launch a “bold new campaign for quality care and support and a dignified quality of life for all Americans, across generations.”

Acknowledging that “older adults hold lessons and our historical memory,” the Congress committed “to take collective responsibility for upholding the right to a dignified quality of life for our elders and people with disabilities,” and their caregivers.

In the face of massive Federal and State Budget cuts, Caring Across Generations proposes “a federal policy solution with five interdependent components --- the Five Fingers of the Caring Hand --- to create and improve jobs, support worker pathways to citizenship, protect and improve Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, and help families of disabled adults and the elderly.

The future long-term support care service needs of an aging Boomer population 'are projected to grow from 13 million in 2000 to 27 million in 2050.' Only three million support services workers currently exist to meet disabled adults' and elders' needs.

The present economic crisis, with high unemployment rates and swiftly disappearing jobs, could leave an ever-diminishing workforce to care for this huge vulnerable population.

Both families and disabled and elder individuals may be facing out-of-reach financial options to manage their care on their own.

Long-term caregivers' vital work provides quality care and support to elders and loved ones with disabilities. Both direct care workers --- but also domestic workers without pathways to appropriate training, career advancement or citizenship --- are compelled to work under “strenuous, highly vulnerable and often exploitive conditions.”

Danielle Feris, National Director of San Francisco Bay Area Hand-In-Hand: Domestic Employers Association, summarized the Congress' Mission as Connected Caring – people reaching across generations and affected groups to cooperate in realizing a dignified quality of life with The Five Fingers of the Caring Hand:

1.Job Creation: Exploring new funding streams to create 2 million new jobs in home care to meet growing need;

2.Job Improvement: Establishing stronger labor standards to transform direct care and domestic worker job quality in present and anticipated new jobs; protect workers' and care recipients' health and safety; improve wages, health insurance access, rights to organize and pathways to unionization.

3.Job Training and Career Ladders: Raise long-term care quality with improved worker job training and certification programs.

4.Setting down pathways to Citizenship: Create a new visa category pathway to citizenship for training and certification program participants.

5.Individual and Family Support: Preserve, expand and support Medicaid and Medicare, and access to care for low-income recipients; find, hire and manage care; and provide Social Security support for unpaid family members so they can support disabled adults and elders at home while they are on leave.

Kickoff panel speakers were California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano highlighting this crucial moment for his important legislation, proposed Bill AB 889, the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights which would provide California Domestic Workers labor protections that other workers enjoy;

Next, San Francisco Supervisor, Eric Mar, spoke about prioritizing the City's commitment to provide the aging population better support. He promised to follow up assertively at City Hall on Care Congress issues.

Then, Tim Poulson, San Francisco Labor Council Executive Director, emphasized that the Labor Movement, representing local and national unionized workers, commits to supporting the Care Congress' campaign to ensure domestic and home care workers with improved working conditions and, ultimately, unionization.

The three keynote speakers were followed by five care crisis representative voices:

Elder, Vera Haile, long-time senior services and immigrant community advocate; current advisor to many groups and former President of the San Francisco Department of Aging and Adult Services and Commission.

Maria Reyes, National Domestic Workers Alliance who underlined respect for service workers;

Lisa Cleis, her mother's 24-hour family caregiver and home care worker, emphasized more financial support for families;

Disabled community spokesperson, Sascha Bittner, detailed adults with disabilities' daily needs.

Hand-In-Hand's Danielle Feris, introduced afternoon speakers, stressing that, “We are pitted against each other under the illusion of scarce resources,” leading to closure of adult day health centers, criminalization of immigrant workers, and employer wage theft.

Feris asked everyone to close their eyes and imagine what it would look like if we all trusted and heard each other, collaborating “across sectors and communities with open hearts.” How would our families and homes look? She invited the group to listen to more leaders' and speakers' ideas about the Care Congress vision.

Maria Guillen, DAAS introduced the many supporting organizations;

James Chionsini, Planning for Elders' Interim Acting Director, pressed support for a lawsuit delayed until a November hearing, against, Governor Brown's June 30th legislative closure and statewide elimination of Adult Day Health Care Centers leading to 35,000 to 50,000 elders losing services instead of corporations paying more. “There is a little hope that these things can be restored. Don't Pull the Trigger on Us!” he said.

Jessica and Nikki, both disabled Hand-In-Hand: Domestic Employer Association advocates, support the California Domestic Workers Bill of Rights.

Nikki emphasized working together because, “We know that if domestic workers are oppressed and disempowered, then people with disabilities will also be oppressed and disempowered.”

Jessica Lehman, a longtime community powerhouse, is unable to work full-time without her attendant. She stressed that disabled people must keep fighting to block cuts to In-Home Support Services (IHSS) and Medicaid, or become unable to live independently, ending in nursing homes and institutions.

Veronica Lozano a ten-year domestic worker and Mujeres Unitas Activas member, stressed that, “For more than 50 years domestic workers have been excluded from basic worker protections” against employer abuse. “We want California to (pass) the next Domestic Workers Bill of rights.”

Matilda Vazquez, Women's Collective, spoke on immigrant residency rights and Assemblyman Ammiano's strong support for AB 1081, allowing California counties to opt out of Secure Communities and S-COMM, a Federal program in which people are stopped for no reason and their fingerprints sent to ICE (Immigration Customs Enforcement) causing deportations for minor or no infractions and subjecting families to devastating immigrant parent-child separations.

Finally, lovely, spirited, Shaw San Liu, Progressive Workers Alliance, victoriously announced a new San Francisco ordinance penalizing employers who punish immigrant workers for defending job rights.

Speakers were followed by small group discussions at the over forty tables set up in the hall. Each table had between eight and ten participants, a mix of employers, domestic workers, and elder or disabled recipients.

Donna Willmott, Planning For Elders, reported that “People did a lot of small group work.” At her table, people shared “our stories and visions of what we hoped care would look like in this country.” Group members told their stories of being caregivers, recipients, or advocates for care.

“There was a lot of emphasis on wanting basic respect from employers.”

A theme of her table's discussion, Donna reported, was that the basis of these very personal human relationships --- one where caregivers could feel they were providing the best care, and elders, children, or people with disabilities could receive the best care possible --- was caring, concern, love, and mutual respect. One person kept repeating, “Love and caring are the foundations of this kind of work,” Donna said.

Donna agreed that Care Congress energy was strongly grassroots. Ultimately all groups focused on offering feedback and suggestions about omissions to the National Care Campaign and on their understanding so far of the Five Fingers of the Caring Hand concept. They were also invited to give responses and ideas for the local Care Council forming soon in the Bay Area.

At the close of the session, the many child participants proudly paraded their Caring Congress artwork on a banner before applauding parents and Congress members.

Then, the Brass Liberation Orchestra rocked the hall and danced the celebrating assemblage to a delicious catered dinner.