ADVISORY

For Immediate Release:
Press Contacts: April Ezzell, April.ezzell@1199.org, (716)449-1620

Faith Leaders from around the state sign on to a letter urging Governor and Legislature to fairly compensate home care workers New York State currently faces worst home care shortage in the nation

BUFFALO, NY — Faith leaders, home care workers, Senator Tim Kennedy and home care workers and advocates will gather on Wednesday to urge state lawmakers to provide fair wages for home care workers. The press conference comes as New York currently faces the worst home care shortage in the nation, and low wages are the single largest driving factor.

WHAT: Faith for Fair Pay Press Conference with Senator Tim Kennedy, Assemblymember Patrick Burke, Assemblywoman Monica Wallace, Home Care Consumers and Workers Calling for End to the Statewide Home Care Shortage

WHERE: 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East
2421 Main St, Buffalo, NY 14214

WHEN: 4:00 PM, Thursday, February 24, 2022

WHO: Senator Timothy Kennedy
Assemblywoman Monica Wallace
Assemblymember Patrick Burke
1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East
Western New York Independent Living Inc.
Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Association of New York State Consumers & Home Care Workers

Home care workers receive some of the lowest wages of everyone in the healthcare industry, working long hours with their clients that cut into time spent with their own loved ones. The faith community has been outspoken in saying this problem is nondenominational and must be addressed immediately.

“There must be living wages and equity for our home care workers," says Reverend Kwame Pitts, Community of Good Neighbors/Oasis Community Buffalo.

“We want to take care of our clients and keep them in their homes, but we need raises, just like other healthcare workers,” says Shana McBride, Homecare Worker. “Homecare workers like me keep vulnerable people living in their homes, but on the money, we make we are constantly stressed out about our own homelife because we can’t afford basic necessities” says McBride.

"Home care workers have been underpaid for too long, resulting in a worker shortage that is depriving older folks and people with disabilities of critical care,” says New York State Assemblymember Monica Wallace. “By passing the Fair Pay for Home Care Act, we can immediately raise the living standards of thousands of home care workers, nearly half of whom are currently living in or near poverty, and bolster the workforce in this absolutely vital healthcare sector. I will continue to use my voice to advocate for fair pay now,” says Wallace.

The Fair Pay for Home Care Act is backed by NAACP, AARP, Democratic Majorities in the State Senate and Assembly, and has bipartisan support in both houses. With New York’s 65+ population slated to grow 25% in the next 20 years, the workforce shortage is projected to increase exponentially: Research has said that New Yorkers will need more than half a million home care workers by 2026.

Additionally, research has found that recovering Covid patients fare far better in home care than nursing homes. Fair Pay for Home Care would more than pay for itself through increased spending, job creation and moving home care workers off of programs such as Medicaid. Fair Pay for Home Care will both retain and attract new home care workers that our state needs.