Caregiver co-op is coming to Thurston/Mason counties

A $15 wage for home care workers is possible now in Thurston County. No union required.

My wife, Margaret, has chronic-progressive multiple sclerosis and requires round-the-clock care. It has been heartbreaking for us to see how the prevalent franchise business model – combined with caregivers being exempt from the fair labor laws – allows caregivers and their very vulnerable patients to suffer as a result.

The caregiver-owned co-op business model is a compassionate solution to achieving higher wages and a better livelihood for caregivers. The community impact is substantial, including a 25 percent increase in average wages; the opportunity for family health insurance and other benefits; a dramatic reduction in worker dependence on public assistance and other social supports; and decreased use of emergency rooms for basic health care.

Just as important is the extraordinary improvement in client care due to much lower caregiver turnover, superior caregiver training, team focus on best practices in health care, and many other distinctions over the franchise model.

The HomeCare Foundation, collaborating with South Sound Senior Services’ Care Connection and the NW Cooperative Development Center, is in the process of starting a caregiver cooperative in Thurston/Mason counties. This co-op will improve the lives of dozens and eventually hundreds of caregivers and their clients in this area.

Changing from your present home-care agency to the co-op will cost you no more and will provide an amazing life for you and your caregiver.

This story was originally published September 11, 2015 at 8:37 AM with the headline "Caregiver co-op is coming to Thurston/Mason counties."