[MUSIC PLAYING]
"I mostly care for people
in their homes, people
like parents, grandparents —"
"This is Nancy.
This is my sweetheart."
"— the most vulnerable
population of our society,
people who need help
going to the bathroom,
eating, taking
the medications.
This is for your bones.
This is for your pain.
Brendan is paralyzed
from the neck down.
We do everything for him.
All right, so I've
got to lift you up."
"Yep."
"All right?
I work seven days a
week, but I love my job.
I wouldn't do anything else.
I've worked for over
30 years doing this,
and I make just
over $15 an hour.
I live in Massachusetts,
and my salary
is actually one of the
highest in the country.
18 percent of us live below
the poverty line.
Nationally, we make just
over $16,200 a year.
And even though I
work in health care,
I cannot afford
health insurance.
I avoid going to the doctors.
I have medical bills
I haven't paid.
My new tattoo is "We're
all in this together,"
and it is the
world as a heart.
Since Covid, the
federal government
is giving out more than $100
billion of emergency money
to hospitals, nursing homes,
long-term-care facilities.
That's great, but
most of the money
isn't going to people like me.
I'm not a
materialistic person,
and I'm not asking to
make a million dollars.
I don't mind doing hard work,
but I need to make a living.
I need to be able to pay
my bills, especially now
with coronavirus.
Most home givers aren't
receiving hazard pay.
I've had to pay for a
lot of their P.P.E. out
of my own pocket.
If we are essential
workers, we
need to be treated
like essential workers.
I know.
I know, right?
If I were to go
on unemployment
and stop working, I would
make about the same amount
of money, if not more.
And then there's
not going to be
anybody to take care
of these people,
and that's just crazy.
It's a very broken system.
These patients are sick, and
they need to be cared for."
"This is every innocent
person's nightmare."
"Last Tuesday, Nancy fell.
She basically sat on the
floor until she was found.
I would hate to
have her end up
in a nursing home or a
long-term-care facility,
but that's what's going to
happen if she doesn't receive
the care.
I give her a quality of
life that she deserves,
and I don't want
her to lose that.
That's why I do what I do.
If she falls, she
loses all of that.
[Crying] I'm sorry.
You all right?
You want to change it?
You all right?
I love you.
Get up.
Don't cry.
You're going to make me cry.
Come on.
It doesn't have
to be like this.
The federal government
and the Department
of Health and
Human Services must
require some of the money that
is going out for relief to go
to the front-line caregivers.
States could also use the
Medicaid to increase our pay.
Some states increased wages
for all health workers,
including home caregivers.
Arkansas is doing it now.
Arkansas did prove
that it is possible.
Even a few dollars more an
hour would change our lives
and make the health care
system more sustainable
and safer for our patients.
All right, kiddo.
But when this is all over
in the post-Covid world,
the money shouldn't
get taken away.
Caregivers will
still be needed,
and we should be
paid a living wage.
We need help.
And then when I get old,
you can take of me, right?"
"Oh, yeah."
"This is what
I've always done.
This is what I'll always do.
I'm a caregiver."
