Letter to our Congressmen and Senators in Michigan

This is a letter I am sending to all our state representatives.  I am going to send out on my email list, and ask for signatures on it as a petition.  If you feel compelled to send it out to your friends on your Email list, to start your own petition, Feel Free.  Something HAS to be done!

With Love!

Arin

Dear Senator/ Congressman,

I am writing this letter on behalf of not only my family but the countless families that are struggling in Michigan. We need help! This is an S.O. S. to the people that are our Representatives. I'm sure you are aware of how many families have filed bankruptcy, or are on the verge of filing. Many have lost everything they have! Our pay is actually going down while EVERYTHING is going up!

You mostly hear about the situation with the Auto Workers and how those jobs are being outsourced or being out for cheaper labor. They are being forced to find new lines of work. Well, at least they are being given a chance to start over. We don't even have that luxury, if that's what you want to call it. I work in the Mental Health field. With the budget cuts in 2002 and the alleged misappropriation of funds, which helped to expand Metro Airport, 2007 saw the first raise we have received since 1998. And this was only a 2% raise. Which, really did not help. My co-workers and I are struggling on an income that in 1998 was barely sufficient. We are living in 2008 on that SAME income with a 2% raise, that's .15 cents more an hour based on $7.41 per hour.

I'm in management in the Group Home field. I have worked for the same company since I graduated high school in 1992. I went to a private high school, which I worked to pay for my own tuition--my junior and senior year--as my divorced mother could no longer afford to do it. I never dreamed, growing up, that I wouldn't go straight to college after high school but circumstances prevented that, and now I am where I am.

I actually love my job. I get to help people all day. It is a wonderful and fulfilling thing. The worst part is the low pay, not just for me but for my staff. The company I work for offers $7.61 per hour to start. You then receive a $.25 raise annually for 3 years. After that you top off and only receive a pay raise when the state gives one out. Sure, we have fairly decent benefits, but there is a monthly co-pay of $100 just for health benefits, and we have office visit co-pays and prescription co-pays. With an average of 540 bring home pay every two weeks, minus the $50 every pay, that only leaves $490 every two weeks to live on. But believe me, in Michigan, we are thankful for what we do have.

Management is paid a little differently, we receive a salary based on how many Homes that you run. I personally run 3 homes. I receive $27,900, for my licensed home, and $4,000.00 annually for each of the 2 unlicensed homes I manage--totaling to $36,000 per year. Which sounds pretty nice but I am on-call 24 hours a day 7 days a week and work an average of 70 hours a week. The amount of work required is outrageous. I am personally responsible for EVERYTHING that goes on in all 3 of those homes. I hire the staff, train, maintain all records, payroll, monthly, quarterly, annual reports. I am responsible for the care and livelihood of 9 men that aren't able to do things on their own. I shop, do home maintenance, make sure not only that the home is clean, but also do repairs that are needed. I haven't even touched on the medical responsibilities we have. When people are in wheelchairs, we have feeding tubes and use breathing machines, wear catheters or have colostomy bags, there is a lot of responsibility. It sounds outrageous, and sometimes it is.

I have been here for 16 years for a reason. And the staff I personally have at my homes have been there for as long as 25 years! That is unheard of in this field! The sad thing is, this IS unheard of in this field. Most of the people that live in the homes do not have that stability. They do not know who the person is today waking them up at 4 am to change their diaper. Or sometimes worse, they get very attached to the people that care for them ,and the staff can't stay because there is a better paying job that comes along. This then causes stress, anxiety, sometimes behaviors. Imagine yourself in that situation. Even worse, the quality of care suffers when there is constant turn over in a home. New staff can't come in to a job knowing what to do, so after they start getting used to their job, and are at the point where they can start doing more than just the basics, many leave. I believe the average Direct Care staff is at a home for 6 months. This is what we were told when we were accredited by C.A.R.F. I can't imagine how anyone could feel comfortable with people coming in and out of their home every 6 months someone new. When you have stability in a home, you have comfort, you have safety, you have a family.

I bring all of this up because there could be an avenue of hope for everyone. If the State would allow a pay increase to the mental health field to go directly to the workers of an actual substantial amount, it would vastly improve the lives of the people living in Group Homes, as they would have long term staff that are well rested and pleasant, as they don't have to work 80 hours a week to make ends meet. It would vastly improve the lives of the people that already depend on this field as their source of income, it would also attract new workers to the field! I can't tell you how many displaced Auto Workers have sat at my desk looking at me like I was crazy, as I explained the job duties and then told them the pay rate. Something needs to be done! And this is the something our Representatives can do something about! PLEASE HEAR OUR CRIES!!!!

Sincerly,

Arin A. Tilley