State cuts threaten homecare programs in SBC
Every day is a struggle for Eva Del Toro.
Her screaming 24-year-old son, who was born with an undeveloped
brain, wakes her up every morning.
She has to dress him, as his arms swing wildly in the air. She
has to feed him and change his diaper.
State cuts threaten homecare programs in SBC
Every day is a struggle for Eva Del Toro.
Her screaming 24-year-old son, who was born with an undeveloped brain, wakes her up every morning.
She has to dress him, as his arms swing wildly in the air. She has to feed him and change his diaper.
Her son, Jesus, can’t tend for himself and is moved around in a wheelchair or in someone’s arms. Someone always has to watch him.
Del Toro has been a homecare worker for the past eight years, spending every moment with her son. Without her, she doesn’t know how her son would survive.
“He is just a big baby,” she said through a translator. “I have to do everything like he was a baby.”
Come July, her hours may be cut dramatically.
If Gov. Jerry Brown gets his way, the homecare system throughout California will be reduced by around 12 percent – if he doesn’t, homecare workers could face a 30 percent cut in hours. Proposed cuts to the homecare worker program are among many possible losses due to the state’s $26 billion deficit.
For Hollister resident Dave Melgarjo, this just can’t happen.
Melgarjo, 56, suffers from severe arthritis and altercations from a stroke. To move around he uses a wheelchair. His right arm has lost almost all of its use.
To do daily chores such as washing clothes and dishes, and cleaning his one-bedroom apartment, he needs all the help he can get.
And for three hours each day, Ernie Caballero does all those things.
“I don’t know what I would do without Ernie,” Melgarjo said.
Possibly as soon as July, Caballero’s time with Melgarjo will be dramatically cut.
Brown’s homecare cuts call for nearly 12 percent elimination in home workers’ hours, and if the state tax extension is not approved it could be as much as 30 percent of hours.
“To San Benito County residents it would affect a lot of people and residents,” Service Employees International Union member Eric Larson said. “It would be a huge loss.”
There are around 300 homecare workers throughout the county, helping out either low-income seniors or those who are disabled.
Melgarjo, who is younger than homecare worker Caballero, 65, needs to have someone help him daily.
“If I need to go somewhere, I need Ernie,” he said. “If I go to the doctors, I need him.”
Caballero and Melgarjo are close, and friendly neighbors. When Melgarjo needs help Caballero is quick to come, and despite only working with each other for three hours a day, he is greatly appreciated. Caballero has been Malgarjo’s homecare worker for the past 14 months.
“Without him, it would take a lot of effort to do the simple things,” Melgarjo said.
Caballero, who was homeless in San Jose for 10 years, loves helping others because it gives him something to do and keep busy, he said.
“I like to do it and help people,” he said.
And it’s that connection that keeps Melgarjo going, he said.
“He is like my big brother,” he said.
And it’s those connections that make homecare workers so important, homecare worker Esperanza Torres said.
Torres believes homecare workers are important because without them who would be there to help those in need, she said.
“I think it’s very important that we continue to help,” she said. ” I don’t know what would happen to them if we aren’t there to care for them.”
