If you were a home care aide . . .

If you were a Home Care Aide, your work day wouldn’t begin in an office.

Your day would begin with a journey. Maybe by car; maybe by public transit.

You don’t go to an office. You go to someone’s home. Someone who needs someone to help them.

That “someone” lives independently, sort of. But they need someone else there every day to remind them.

Remind them to take their medicine.

Remind them to wash their face. Comb their hair. Maybe comb it for them, because that feels good.

That “someone” lives alone, and is probably older or living with a disability and doesn’t have anyone else in their lives to give them those reminders every day.

It’s not like they need to know they need to take their meds; they know that. What they need is to know that there is someone else in their life who cares whether they take their meds, wash their face, comb their hair.

If you were a Home Care Aide, you’d be that someone for that “someone.”

Full Life Care has some 400 people whose workday is just that – going to “someone’s” home and showing them daily that someone else cares.

And they are doing that job now in the midst of a deadly viral pandemic the world hasn’t seen in a century.

While many of us are trying our best to obey the current “stay-at-home” directive, our caregivers can’t do that. Their jobs are considered essential. And yet, our caregivers (and staff) are being stopped on the street and being asked to show their “papers,” documentation that attests to their occupation. It’s enough that they are already facing this immense amount of health risk, but they are also being stopped and asked to prove that they are essential. Those who are minorities are being stopped at a higher rate than others. It’s disruptive, and frankly terrifying for our workforce.

And they’re doing that job despite there being a monumental shortage of the life-protecting supplies that, under normal circumstances, would be abundantly available – protective face masks, gowns, gloves. The kinds of protective equipment you’re used to seeing in TV doctor dramas simply isn’t available in this time of crisis.

But if you were a Home Care Aide, you go to work anyway. It’s scary now, under the current health care circumstances. But you know that your “someone” needs you and depends on you. And you really don’t want to let them down.

That’s why we’re asking you to participate in these remote volunteer opportunities we’ve outlined. Home Care Aides are, as defined by government guidelines, considered “essential.” Their work is as vital as the work of any other health care and medical worker. And those “someones” who we serve wouldn’t consider it any differently.

You can help. We have ideas to show you how.

Come fight with us!

You can join in the fight against COVID-19!

Full Life Care has programs ready for volunteers to help keep us all safe and healthy as we face the challenge of this pandemic. These are opportunities you can do without leaving the safety and security of home and adhere to self-quarantine directives.

• Home Sewn Mask Drive: Support the hundreds of Full Life homecare aides providing vital in-home support to vulnerable adults throughout King County. Donate home sewn masks by mailing them directly to FLC Homecare, 800 Jefferson Street, Ste 620. Refer to Home Sewn Masks for Full Life for more details. Anyone is welcome to contribute, and spread the word!
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•  Create Cards of Encouragement: Mail us handmade or handwritten cards for Full Life participants coping with increased feelings of isolation. Refer to Creating Cards of Encouragement for Full Life for more details. Anyone is welcome to contribute, and spread the word!
• Friendly Phone Call Brigade: Offer one-on-one socialization, enrichment ideas, and reassurance to elders and adults with disabilities in Full Life’s network expressing loneliness. This opportunity is now open for current and recent Full Life volunteers. New applicants may be added to our waitlist to be contacted if our needs evolve. Sign up by sending a message to Crissy & Jessica at elderfriends@fulllifecare.staging.tawebhost.com.