As part of SEIU’s “Walk A Day In My Shoes” program, Sen. Barack Obama got a firsthand look at the everyday life of SEIU member and homecare worker Pauline Beck.
On August 8th in Oakland, Calif., Obama arrived at Beck’s home for an early morning breakfast where he spent time with Beck’s daughter—an Oakland school worker—grandnephew, and two foster children.
Obama and Beck then traveled to the home of Beck’s 86-year-old client John Thornton, where they got him out of bed, prepared his breakfast, and helped him get ready to start his day.
Mr. Thornton, who Beck has cared for for four years, is completely dependent on Beck and another homecare worker for 24-hour care. With a broken hip, a prosthetic leg and nerve damage to his fingers, he can’t get in or out of bed, nor can he dress, bathe or care for himself.
Beck routinely works more than her allotted hours for the state program that enables Mr. Thornton to live at home simply because there’s no one else to care for him other than the other homecare worker.
As such, Sen. Obama saw firsthand how homecare workers are often their clients’ only caretakers, their only family members.
The state program—the California In-Home Supportive Service Program—enables the state to save more than a billion dollars annually by reducing the need for more restrictive and costly institutional care. |
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Pauline Beck: “Every day, I provide the care my client needs to remain in the home he’s lived in for more than 40 years. Without homecare, he wouldn’t even be able to get out of bed in the morning.
“After spending a day with me, I hope Senator Obama sees the energy homecare workers give to their clients, and what it takes to raise a family as a single mom.”
TELL OBAMA AND THE OTHER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES WHAT LIFE IS LIKE IN YOUR SHOES »
All the Presidential Candidates Invited to Walk A Day in a Member’s Shoes
“Walk a Day in My Shoes” is about making sure politicians truly know what the real world is like for the rest of us. SEIU members are inviting all candidates for political office to spend time in our lives, accompanying us on the job and spending time at home with our families.
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