Vancouver resident Vicki Bickford expresses her appreciation for the WA Cares program
Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the author alone and do not reflect the editorial position of ClarkCountyToday.com.
![Vicki Bickford](https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Story_Clark-County-Today-thumbnail_Vicki-Apr05-2022-2400px-3-267x400.jpg)
I’ve always been a caregiver. As a single mom raising three boys, I had the sole responsibility of caring for them when they were little. We think about caring for children a lot. But what happens when the day comes that we ourselves need care?
Eventually it’s bound to happen to all of us if we live long enough. As a home care aide, I’ve cared for people with cancer, Alzheimer’s, and people with disabilities. Now I’m getting close to retirement. I have aggressive arthritis and I struggle to do many things I used to take for granted like walking up the stairs. I know that with age this will only get worse and someday I will need help with daily tasks like grocery shopping, bathing, and moving around the house.
That’s why I’m thankful that we have three wonderful state legislators – Senator Annette Cleveland and Representatives Sharon Wylie and Monica Jurado Stonier who support the WA Cares program. Because of this program I will be able to pay a home care aide to help me when the time comes and replace my stairs with a ramp. WA Cares will give me the freedom to age with dignity in my own home.
Vicki Bickford
Vancouver
Also read:
- Letter: For the public record and the Comprehensive PlanIn a July 12 letter to the Clark County Council, Clark County Citizens United President Susan Rasmussen shares that primary stakeholders were ignored in the Wetland and Habitat Ordinance Conservation Covenant.
- Opinion: Supreme Court gives Vancouver a new tool to use in its homelessness efforts, but will the city use it?Most Vancouver residents do not want homelessness to be criminalized but they do want a response when some in the homeless community commit crimes, and a new ruling by the United States Supreme court is a tool the city could use to help neighborhoods.
- Opinion: Has transit entered the “death spiral?”Transit ridership dropped sharply with the onset of the COVID pandemic in 2020. The slow rebound in the years that followed has prompted discussion, sometimes in hushed tones, as to whether transit had entered a “death spiral.”
- POLL: Should the city of Vancouver do more to protect citizens who have been victims of harassment, or worse, from those living homeless on the streets?Should the city of Vancouver do more to protect citizens who have been victims of harassment, or worse, from those living homeless on the streets?
- Opinion: How bad is freeway speeding?Target Zero Manager Doug Dahl answers a question about the commonplace of freeway speeding in Washington state.