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Quad Cities home healthcare workers call for increased support to industry

According to Care Can't Wait, home care jobs will grow nearly three times faster than the overall job growth rate in the Quad Cities.

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — Home healthcare workers in the Quad Cities gathered on Oct. 6 to ask for help for a growing industry, which they say is vital to providing services to seniors and people with disabilities.

Members of the Care Can't Wait coalition gathered at the Illinois Iowa Center for Independent Living in Rock Island where they shared why they're looking for more support and additional pay. Supporters said there's an urgent need for more home care providers over the next decade.

"We are facing a severe home care worker shortage, due to the current wages and lack of benefits," Jenny Smith, a home personal assistant with the Illinois Department of Human Services, said. "Personal assistants, we earn $17.25 an hour. It's the same if you started a week ago or if you've been there for 20 years. It's the same hourly rate."

According to Care Can't Wait, home care jobs will grow nearly three times faster than the overall job growth rate in the Quad Cities.

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