Senator gets dirty for seniors

In-home care provider shows importance of duties

As the Illinois budget deficit remains status quo, many forms of critical care are in jeopardy.

More than 1,000 area seniors receive in-home care through the state’s Community Care Program, but due to the state’s $13 million budget deficit, funding for these programs may be cut.

Service Employees International Union Healthcare members are asking for new revenue to prevent such cuts, which is how state Sen. Dave Koehler (D-Peoria) got his hands dirty with a Peoria home care provider.

Amanda Rowry, a 31-year-old home care worker through Addus Healthcare, has been working with Clara Betts, a Chillicothe senior citizen, for about two years. With Rowry’s help, Betts has been able to stay in her home.

“We (SEIU Healthcare) saved the state millions of dollars last year with the services we provide. It keeps consumers in their homes and gives them what they get at a nursing home,” Evette Cagle, SEIU Healthcare employee, said.

Koehler found himself at Betts’ apartment after SEIU Healthcare members attended an in-district meeting asking state representatives to work alongside a home care worker for a day.

“This lets constituents see these programs and how they let consumers stay in their homes, keep their dignity and lets them live longer,” Cagle said.

Rowry is one of about 48 home care workers employed through Addus Healthcare. She works six days a week with four different clients in three-hour time periods.

“The need is always growing. We are hiring people every month,” Barb Needham, agency director for Addus Healthcare, said of the home care worker profession.

“We look for someone who is caring, dependable, can multitask. We are the extra check-in system for our clients. We keep them safe in their home.”

Rowry possesses all of those attributes which could easily be seen as she interacted with Betts while helping Koehler do the laundry, clean the bathroom, mop the kitchen, change the bed sheets and make Betts a snack of pudding with his secret ingredient: bananas.

“You have to have heart. It’s given me a greater outlook on life. (Betts) refers to me as her daughter,” Rowry said of her job.

Rowry was nominated and received an honorable mention for the Mary I. Hill Award, an annual award presented to the top five home care aides in the state of Illinois.

Before Rowry began her career working with seniors in their homes she worked retail jobs, but never found a position that truly made her happy until now.

“I’ve found my home. I do it with a smile. You never know when I will be or my parents will be (in this position) so I take it in stride,” she said.

Cagle, Betts and Rowry all agreed the work done by home care workers compared to nursing homes is much better for those who are capable of living on their own.

“This is working. These programs are vital,” Cagle said.

Not only are these programs saving the state money, according to Cagle, they are making seniors lives more enjoyable as they can live at home.

“Being able to come to a home is more one-on-one. A nursing home – you can get lost in the mix,” Rowry said.

Rowry is not just a home care provider in the eyes of Betts, she is a friend. During their six days a week together Rowry not only cleans and cooks for Betts, she talks, reads and takes her to church. She bonds with her.

“In my position, I sit here seven days a week, look at the walls, eat three meals a day by myself. It’s hard. (Rowry) cooks or brings me food. She’s like family to me now,” Betts said.