{"id":5058678,"date":"2022-05-16T05:15:45","date_gmt":"2022-05-16T05:15:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ctlatinonews.com\/?p=5058678"},"modified":"2022-05-16T05:15:45","modified_gmt":"2022-05-16T05:15:45","slug":"70-hour-work-weeks-sleeping-in-a-car-personal-care-assistants-struggle-to-care-for-themselves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/ctln\/2022\/05\/16\/70-hour-work-weeks-sleeping-in-a-car-personal-care-assistants-struggle-to-care-for-themselves\/","title":{"rendered":"70-Hour Work Weeks, Sleeping In A Car: Personal Care Assistants Struggle To Care For Themselves"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dilliner Jordan works 62 hours a week taking care of two people who are too medically fragile to take care of themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But she has no health insurance and often sleeps in her car because she can\u2019t afford rent and a security deposit, even though she has been saving for months. She is fearful of staying at a shelter, which she believes will increase her chances of contracting COVID-19 for a second time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt does bother me,\u201d the 63-year-old Brooklyn, N.Y., native said. \u201cIt bothers me a lot. I don\u2019t understand how I could work two jobs and still can\u2019t afford an apartment. I either make too much money for help or not enough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At 61, Luc\u00eda Nunez, who also works as a personal care assistant, commonly known as a home care worker, is in the same position. Nunez, of East Hartford, works 70 hours a week, taking care of three individuals who need help with the daily activities of life, including bathing and meals. Still, she hasn\u2019t had a mammogram in four years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI can\u2019t remember the last time I went to the doctor for a regular visit,\u201d said Nunez, who also has no health insurance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jordan and Nunez are part of a 10,000-member workforce taking care of 6,000 of the state\u2019s most vulnerable residents in their homes, paid by the state&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/portal.ct.gov\/dss\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Department of Social Services<\/a>&nbsp;(DSS) and state&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/portal.ct.gov\/dds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Department of Developmental Services<\/a>&nbsp;(DDS) through&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.medicaid.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Medicaid<\/a>&nbsp;funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They are mostly women\u2014predominantly women of color\u2014with no health care benefits, no paid time off, no paid sick days and no path to retirement even as the pandemic has worn on into a third year, said Diedre Murch, director of home care for the&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.seiu1199ne.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">New England Heathcare Employees Union, SEIU District 1199<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/ctln\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/ED8C655E-772E-44E3-9F61-EC91CEF37906-1024x682.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5058679\" srcset=\"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/ctln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2022\/05\/ED8C655E-772E-44E3-9F61-EC91CEF37906-1024x682.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/ctln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2022\/05\/ED8C655E-772E-44E3-9F61-EC91CEF37906-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/ctln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2022\/05\/ED8C655E-772E-44E3-9F61-EC91CEF37906-768x511.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/ctln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2022\/05\/ED8C655E-772E-44E3-9F61-EC91CEF37906.jpeg 1170w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>Dilleener Jordan wipes Tracy Lamb\u2019s face while caring for her in Lamb\u2019s West Haven apartment, March 22, 2022. Jordan is a home health care worker who cares for Lamb four days a week.  Photo by Cloe Poisson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are unearthing more and more stories like Dilliner\u2019s and Luc\u00eda\u2019s,\u201d Murch said. \u201cThe pandemic was like pouring gasoline on the fire that was already burning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The workers can\u2019t legally strike to get better pay and benefits because the state has no backup system to take care of their clients, Murch said. The union, DSS and DDS have been in talks for months, even as federal pandemic relief for community care was made available. After a meeting with Gov. Ned Lamont last week, the union is hopeful that a new contract is coming, Murch said, but an agreement has not been reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nunez works Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 3 to 9 p.m. for two people and then every other weekend taking care of a third person. \u201cI\u2019m always working more than 70 hours a week, so I can survive, pay my bills and put food on the table,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She gets no benefits other than what she calls \u201choly day pay,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><em><strong>\u201cIf you work on the Fourth of July\u2014that\u2019s a holy day\u2014you get paid time and a half. If you don\u2019t work,\u00a0you don\u2019t get paid because we have no paid holidays unless we work.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p><cite>Lucia Nunez<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She only took a few days off when one of her clients contracted COVID-19 because she couldn\u2019t afford to stop working. Her boyfriend puts gas in her car so she can use that money for food, she said. \u201cEverything is more expensive,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jordan works Monday through Thursday from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. for Tracy Lamb, a 52-year-old West Haven resident with multiple sclerosis who is bedridden and needs help with bathing, dressing and chores around the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cShe makes me happy every time,\u201d Lamb said. \u201cWhen she goes away, I\u2019m miserable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have a very good relationship. She bathes me, she leaves the room spotless, she cooks for me, she\u2019ll clean up the house. She never stops. She\u2019s like the Energizer battery.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes the two watch television or movies together while Jordan folds the laundry. Lamb said Jordan will go to the store for her on her day off if she needs something. \u201cShe always goes above and beyond for me,\u201d Lamb said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jordan also works 10 hours on Fridays and 12 hours on Saturdays taking care of a second client on oxygen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jordan will sometimes stay overnight at Lamb\u2019s home if it\u2019s cold out. On the other nights, she\u2019ll sleep in her car, she said. She cooks for herself when she cooks for her clients, leaving foods that need to remain cold in their refrigerator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI never hide my situation from them,\u201d Jordan said. \u201cWhen I cook for them, I cook for myself.\u201d<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/c-hit.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Dilleener-Jordan-Home-Health-Care-Worker-15-scaled.jpg\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\">DILLINER JORDAN MAKES LUNCH FOR TRACY LAMB IN THE KITCHEN.&nbsp;<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jordan said she was raised by a mother who believed that people should help their older neighbors or people in need. \u201cI think that\u2019s why I went into this,\u201d Jordan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMy mom would send us to go help people. Even though I work six days a week, I spend Sunday going to see a lady who has nobody. I talk to her. We were the help for the elderly when I was a kid.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She worked for a nursing home in 1987 but found that the job didn\u2019t provide enough time to take care of people the way she felt was necessary, she said. \u201cYou need to make sure they are clean. You want to make them happy,\u201d Jordan said. \u201cThere were so many residents you couldn\u2019t give them the attention they needed. When I\u2019m doing private duty, I\u2019m able to do that for every one of my clients.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After working in home care for nearly 30 years, she had moved to South Carolina before the start of the pandemic to spend time with her son and his family, she said. She was able to work less because she lived with his family and was enjoying life, until tragedy struck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Her son went to the store one day and never returned, she said. He had been shot and killed by the store manager who mistakenly believed he was trying to rob the place, she said. \u201cIt was a shock. He just never came back from the store,\u201d Jordan said. \u201cIt was very traumatic. He left nine kids. You come to the point where you can\u2019t feel. I was in trauma.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She sought the help of a therapist through telehealth and then came back to Connecticut to escape the memories of their time together, she said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t stay. I kept seeing him everywhere,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since then, she\u2019s been working with Lamb and her other client while trying to avoid catching COVID-19 for a second time. Her first bout in November 2021 left her with lung problems and fatigue, she said. She lost two weeks\u2019 pay while quarantining because, by that point, federal sick time pay for home care workers impacted by COVID-19 had ended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jordan said she makes it a point to tell her clients that they still make life worth living even if they are bedridden or have physical challenges. Some days she tries to motivate them even as she\u2019s exhausted from the workload, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEverybody has a calling,\u201d Jordan said. \u201cIt takes a special person to take tender loving care of people. I try to give them a better quality of life. Everyone should have a better quality of life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/ctln\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/4AFEEFD4-A53F-490B-84C1-B74AB7FD2493.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5058680\" width=\"301\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/ctln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2022\/05\/4AFEEFD4-A53F-490B-84C1-B74AB7FD2493.png 414w, https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/ctln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2022\/05\/4AFEEFD4-A53F-490B-84C1-B74AB7FD2493-300x199.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 301px) 100vw, 301px\" \/><figcaption>Jordan covers Lamb with a comforter after helping her get back into bed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/c-hit.org\/2022\/04\/06\/70-hour-work-weeks-sleeping-in-a-car-personal-care-assistants-struggle-to-care-for-themselves\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"http:\/\/c-hit.org\/2022\/04\/06\/70-hour-work-weeks-sleeping-in-a-car-personal-care-assistants-struggle-to-care-for-themselves\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">70-Hour Work Weeks, Sleeping In A Car: Personal Care Assistants Struggle To Care For Themselves<\/a> was first published on Connecticut Health I-Team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All photos by Cloe Poisson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Publisher\u2019s Note:<\/em>\u00a0<em>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/ctln\/\">CTLN<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/c-hit.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">c-hit.org<\/a>\u00a0collaborate to best serve the Connecticut Hispanic, Latino community<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dilliner Jordan works 62 hours a week taking care of two people who are too medically fragile to take care [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5058681,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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Jordan works 62 hours a week taking care of two people who are too medically fragile to take care [&hellip;]","authors":[{"term_id":744,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"veritas-admin","display_name":"News 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