Letters to the editor for April 17

Alzheimer’s also a public health crisis

I appreciate that in all its understandable focus on the COVID-19 virus, Congress did not lose sight of the need to improve care and support for people with Alzheimer’s and other dementia.

Approximately 5% of the more than 5 million Americans living today with Alzheimer’s have younger onset. Until now, these folks have been ineligible to receive vital Older Americans Act help like nutritional programs, in-home services, transportation, legal services, elder-abuse prevention and caregiver support.

This issue is important to me because I work with families every day who are impacted by younger onset Alzheimer’s and see the struggle they have in accessing services that would make such a difference in their lives. These families carry a heavy burden and accessing this support will make a world of difference.

I am grateful that Congressman Denny Heck responded to Alzheimer’s Association advocates who urged his support of a bill to let Area Agencies on Aging give services to those with younger onset Alzheimer’s and that he worked successfully to pass it into law.

All our members of Congress should continue to actively support policies that address Alzheimer’s disease as the national public health crisis it is.

Housing crisis during pandemic

The economic fallout of COVID-19 is huge. Millions of low-wage workers have been laid off, and “gig” workers have no gigs, making it virtually impossible to pay the rent or mortgage. This can quickly lead to eviction and homelessness.

Our community has already witnessed the effects of increased homelessness before the coronavirus pandemic struck our country, as reported in The Olympian over the last several months. No one wishes to see the numbers of unsheltered increase.

I am grateful Congress has passed emergency legislation with some help for people experiencing housing instability and homelessness. However, the crisis is far from over. These two statistics from the National Low Income Housing Coalition say so much about the housing pressure on low income families.

• 70 percent of low-income workers (who often work more than one job and live paycheck to paycheck) spend more than 50 percent of their household income on housing.
• There are currently only 37 affordable homes for every 100 extremely low-income households.

In the next coronavirus response bill, Congress must pass a national moratorium on evictions and foreclosures and provide substantial resources for emergency rental assistance to help struggling workers and families secure stable housing now and beyond this crisis.