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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
December 3, 2020     Shelton Mason County Journal
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December 3, 2020
 
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Fully fund home health care Editor, the Journal, Every day, hundreds of unseen, unsung heroes quietly move through our community, improving the lives of vulnerable people. We are trained, licensed, dedicated health care profes- sionals. We are certified home care aides. We are accountable to the state De— partment of Health. We are required to attend annual continuing education classes as a condition of credential renewal. Our livelihood and the safety of our clients might be in jeopardy as proposed budget cuts might eliminate our jobs and expose thousands of - Washingtonians to dangerous risks. Please immediately contact your state elected officials and Gov. Jay Inslee to strongly request that DSHS funding for Vital in-home care services be retained. Licensed home care aides work in private homes; keeping our clients safe and healthy. We make it possible for elderly/infirm/disabled persons to live independently with dignity and respect, rather than to be shipped off, to a residential care facility. Our clients are people who can- not perform normal activities of daily living without assistance, activities many of us take for granted. We help our clients with personal hygiene: brushing teeth, bathing, washing and combing hair. Shaving faces. Gently scrubbing fingernails. Some clients require assistance with disposable undergarments, somerneed help with catheters. We monitor medications, including insulin, to be certain our clients are safely and accurately following doc— tors’ prescriptions and recommenda- tions. We help clients into and out of wheelchairs. We walk patiently with them as they use walkers. We help with at-home physical therapy/range of motion exercises. We follow strict protocols to prevent bedsores. , We are specially trained to monitor our clients for any changes in their health that require intervention by physicians, particularly in compli- cated diseases such as diabetes or dementia. Home care aides grocery shop and prepare healthful meals for our cli- ents. Sometimes we feed the clients if they are unable. Then we do the dishes. And the laundry. We make sure our clients are wearing clean, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020 — Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page A—5 Journal Letter Policy The Journal encourages original letters to the editor of local interest. Diverse and varied opinions are welcomed. We Will-not publish letters that are deemed libelous or scurrilous in nature. All letters must be signed and include the writer’s name, addressand daytime phone number; which will be used for verification purposes only. All letters aresubiect to editing for length, grammar and clarity. To submit a letter, email editor@masoncounty.com, drop it oft at 227 W. Cota St, or mail it to RC. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584. dry clothing and that their beds are safe and hygienic. We mop floors. Scrub toilets. Disin- fect and disinfect again. We are ever watchful to provide a safe living envi- ronment — always mindful of throw rugs, extension cords or any other possible “trip hazards.” , As mandatory reporters, we are specially trained to watch for signs of psychological/emotional/physical or financial abuse involving our clients and we are required by law to report to appropriate authorities. In this time of COVID-19, we likely provide the only opportunity for so- cial interaction as the senior centers, libraries, restaurants and community centers are closed. ‘ We were deemed essential workers last spring, and we have been reli- ably going to work every day in our gloves and masks and aprons and face shields, keeping our clients alive. Thanks to the efforts of our union, we were awarded a small stipend for hazard pay, which will expire in ap- proximately 30 days. My job is difficult, complicated, sometimes emotional, hard work, but immensely rewarding. It is honorable and necessary work. As we move toward the 2021 state budget, there is a proposal to elimi- nate services for the least able/most at-risk citizens. If my job is elimi- nated, where will my clients go? Will I be forced to join the ever-growing numbers of workers asking for unem- ployment compensation? I will no longer be able to help the local economy by spending my wages in my own community. Home care aides save the state thousands and thousands of dollars by providing Vital services outside of care facilities. We keep our clients safe'from exposure to COVID. We preserve the human dignity of our cli— ents by supporting them in their own homes. Please take a moment to contact your state elected officials and Inslee. Call. Email. Call again. Encourage your neighbors to do the same. Legislators must not cut funds that pay for the vital, life-saying services provided by Washington home care aides. ' Theresa Jacobson Agate Thank you, Mason County Editor’s Note: This letter contained a transcription error when it was published in the Nov. edition of the .Journal. The Journal apologizes for the error. Editor, the Journal, First off, I would like to thank Mason County citizens for voting for whomever they votedfor; It’s a good thing when more people have their voices heard through this process. Second of all, I appreciate those who did not pay attention to the bombard- ment of negative letters'regarding party lines. Go back and read or take notice of the same handful of letters submitted by the same folks. Yea, it was scary that there are a lot of nega- tive folks out there, spewing out nega- tive opposition and lies from news reports that they see on TV, without doing a little research. ._ Unfortunately, 99% of the media 4- ily lines and voted Republican. I don’t think I’ll ever go back; the Democratic Party is in shambles. They’re out of their minds, they are out for them- selves, not our country. Some say they’re progressive, that’s just a term that means they think they are. I have a co-worker who disagrees with me on most of the issues but we debate it out and when we’re done we both understand where the other is coming from and move on. It’s actually made our working rela— tionship stronger because we respect the other’s opinion. Too bad the so-called adults who run our government can’t do this. And to you negative N ellies that spew your negative opposition every week in the local paper, thank you for helping Ma- son County stay a red county. Also on another note, the Electoral College works, it’s how smaller states get representation. Too bad we can’t do that on a state level so smaller counties can get representation on choosing our senators and governor. ’ Carl Olson Shelton Unfriend Trump Editor, the Journal, The event will happen on Mon- day, Dec. 14, at the same time across America. The time will be 4 pm. Eastern, 3 pm. Central, 2 pm. Moun— tain and 1 pm. Pacific. The event will be forever known as the National Day. to Unfriend Donald Trump. The event participants are those of you who have befriended Donald Trump on your current Twitter and Facebook accounts. All that is re- quired of you is to Unfriend Donald Trump from your private Twitter and Facebook accounts on the previous ' mentioned day and times. The event slogan will be “Make America Great Again Unfriend Trump.” For those of you'who still have your Trump flags, please consider flying them with the ’ added word “UNFRIENDED” at- were for Biden so the sheep followed. 1 I know I was raised and have always voted Democrat, until my party de- cided to run Hillary, I felt that was a bad move. I knew President Donald Trump would win, so I wrote in good old Mickey Mouse on that one. But after four years of made-up lies, false reasons to impeach, closing down our country and blaming CO- VID on Trump and now court packing (coming to your county commission- ers’ chambers soon) I’ve crossed fam— tached to the flag. , To all of you readers — consider this one truthful fact: “Trump Lest —-— America Won.” Merry Christmas America! Earl W. Burt Bremerton see LETTERS, page A-20 TimesizTell me about being a parent in a pandemic continued from page A—5 it’s OK to have feelings. They need to understand that it’s normal to cry or be upset or happy or sad and that they can experience these feelings. And they always have a letter of the week. That’s a big focus. Q: How is Mason able to express himself online? A: It’s all through me. They might ask him some- thing orinteract with him, but I’m there helping him. His teacher and the teacher’s assistant are helping me help him. He’ll watch the videos and they’ll watch him while he absorbs the videos. It’s not ideal for him for where he’s at and what he needs, but we’re adapting. Q: What would be ideal? A: Me not being the only person who speaks to him or interacts with him. He does have speech therapy for 15 minutes once a week. The speech therapist goes through games and finds one thing that we can work on, like T’s or L’s. He’s getting better. Both of them are improving. The way kids grow you feel like they’re on a plateau, then they’ll take a huge jump and you realize they’ve absorbed so ‘much. Q: How has this method of education affected you? A: It has stressed me out. I’m the one who has to go to kindergarten. With Teagan’s school, I have to be the person who tells her to sit down and watch a video when she says she doesn’t want to, which is most days. Teagan would much rather play with her Barbies than watch a learning video. Her afternoon class is about a half an hour. That’s where they’ll do a project and she really has'to be paying attention so I’ll sit next to her and help her any way I can. Q: Barbies are still a thing? A: Barbies are still very much a thing. a Q: What do you do when you get stressed out? A: There are two things we probably do the most: nature and Netflix. We’ll go camping. You can do , remote learning from anywhere because I have Wi- VFi on my phone.- Q: Do you have trouble falling asleep? "A: Yes. The stress is showing physically. I get headaches and I have started clenching my teeth. I went to the dentist and the dentist said, “Are you by any chance really stressed?” I just laughed. . Q: Do you consider yourself as much teacher as parent? ' A: I consider myself a teacher’s assistant. I’m here to help Teagan absorb the information that has been put in place. It’s a positive that I’m able to stay home and give that to her, considering that some kids in her class are in child care. They’re the ones who have the hardest time finding the papers they need. They’re the ones who had the hardest time fig- uring out the mute-unmute by themselves because no one is behind them or next to them. Teagan is blessed that I could stay home and be with her, but at the same time, I’m her constant. I’m the one nag- ging her. . Q: Tell me about being a parent of youngrchildren during a pandemic. A: If Teagan or Mason aren’t doing exactly what they’re supposed to be doing, I have the perspective that at least we’re surviving a pandemic. The hOpe is in a couple of years we’ll find a new normal and the kids will be able to adjust, just as they’ve had to adjust to this. When you’re as stressed-out as most parents of young children are, you have to take it down to the essentials so you don’t put too much ’ pressure on yourself. I Contact Kirk Ericson at kirk@masoncounty.com.