On February 29th, the Home Care Aide Council (Council) was extremely proud to once again partner with our allies from across the elder and aging networks to host an Elder Lobby Day at the State House in Boston. Spearheaded by Mass Home Care, this annual event provides an opportunity for elder advocacy organizations throughout the Commonwealth to come together as a team to educate the Legislature on their top budget priorities.

The following organizations participated in this year’s event: AARP Massachusetts, Alzheimer’s Association MA/NH Chapter, Boston Center for Independent Living, DAAHR, Home Care Aide Council, Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts, Jewish Community Relations Council/Boston, Mass Association for the Blind & Visually Impaired, Mass Association of Older Americans, Mass Coalition for the Homeless, Mass Council of Adult Foster Care Providers, Mass Association for Councils On Aging, Mass Home Care, Mass Senior Action Council, the Mental Health and Aging Coalition, and 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East.

For nearly 50 years, the Council has been advocating for home care aides while establishing standards of best practice for the industry. This year, the Council is continuing our fight for home care aides by asking the Legislature to support our new requests to enhance wages, benefits, and training for this critical workforce through our FY17 #EnoughPayToStay Budget Campaign for Homemakers and Personal Care Homemakers.  We are also partnering with the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts to advocate for a rate increase for Home Health Aide services purchased through MassHealth.

Shortly after the New Year began, the partner organizations began to mobilize their members to start planning for this year’s Elder Lobby Day event. The Council issued an invitation to all of our members with details on our FY17 budget priorities. We also posted advocacy resources on our website, including a Lobby Day Preparation list outlining steps to best prepare for our day on Beacon Hill. We held a meeting of our Legislative Committee to plan our outreach strategy for this event.

The Council encouraged all members who planned to join us for this event to contact the Legislators representing the cities and towns that their agencies serve to schedule a time to meet with their offices on the 29th. This year, we were also fortunate to recruit an intern from UMASS Boston to assist us with the planning for this event and the implementation of our FY17 budget campaign. We expanded our outreach materials by adding #EnoughPayToStay Postcards and Pins to our advocacy resources. We also enhanced our Worker Profile Questionnaire and collected stories from our members highlighting the hard work and dedication of home care aides across the Commonwealth.

Four of our members who provide care to clients residing on the South Shore once again partnered with South Shore Elder Services (SSES) to arrange a bus to transport staff from their organizations to the State House on the 29th. The Council thanks SSES for organizing this resource.

Following weeks of preparation, the Council was extremely excited as we made our way up the State House steps on Leap Day 2016. We gathered with our event partners to set up tables where participants could pick up materials for their legislative visits. We were eager to welcome our members and their home care aides as they arrived and provide them with lobby materials for every member of the Massachusetts Legislature and were proud that so many advocates from throughout the Commonwealth filled the State House on the mild and bright Monday morning of our event.

The event began with a rally, co-led by Mass Home Care Executive Director Al Norman and AARP Massachusetts State Director Mike Festa, who helped frame the issues impacting elders and our network’s collaborative approach to making the Commonwealth a better place for individuals as they age. The packed room was inspired by outstanding remarks from EOEA Secretary Alice Bonner, Chair of the Joint Committee on Elder Affairs, Representative Denise Garlick, Senator Barbara L’Italien, and Representative Bruce Ayers. We learned about the many important priorities of our allies as a representative from each of the partner organizations shared brief information on their FY17 budget requests with the crowd.

After the speaking presentations, participants dispersed to carry their messages directly to the members of the Legislature. As the event closed, several of the partners reflected on the continued effectiveness of bringing together so many who are concerned about enhancing community-based services for elders for this annual event. By working as a team to coalesce around our core message, while making visits on our individual requests, we can build support for our specific concerns while highlighting the importance of enhancing the long-term care continuum in order to fully support the needs of elders throughout the community.

Lisa Gurgone, MS, is the Executive Director of the Home Care Aide Council.