Camden County program offers financial relief to NJ caregivers
According to the employment website Indeed.com, the average caregiver in New Jersey makes $15.72 an hour, which is also the national average.
That works out to about $628 a week before taxes, health insurance and other payroll deductions; it's $2,515 a month, or just over $30,000 a year.
Not surprisingly, just 33 percent of New Jersey's caregivers report being satisfied with their salary. In a state with a median home price of $418,500 and monthly rent on a two-bedroom apartment averaging more than $1,400, caregivers often struggle to make ends meet while doing incredibly difficult, but also unquestionably vital work.
Camden County is offering some financial cushion for them: More than $1 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds will be made available to people who provide care for the elderly, young children and/or those with disabilities whose wages were impacted by the pandemic. Caregivers who meet the eligibility requirements can receive $1,000.
To be eligible, caregivers must meet the following requirements:
provide hands-on, direct assistance including functional living skills and basic care needs, like feeding and toileting;
perform a low- or moderate-income position including care attendant, caregiver, home health aide, hospice aide, institutional attendant and nurse aide;
work in institutional settings (nursing homes & hospitals) assisted living facilities, independent living arrangements, group residential homes, schools for individuals with special needs, adult and youth day programs and/or private homes;
live in Camden County or provide caregiver services to a resident of Camden County;
provide evidence of at least 500 hours of hands-on healthcare and/or essential day-to-day support to one or more elderly persons or children and/or adults with intellectual, physical, and developmental disabilities and brain injuries from March 1, 2020 through March 7, 2022;
provide a verifiable Social Security Number or Taxpayer Identification Number to be eligible for Relief Funds and complete IRS Form W-9 “Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification” as part of the application process.
The funds are part of a $55 million federal grant to Camden County that's being used to assist sectors particularly hard-hit by the pandemic; rental assistance, nonprofit grants and small business assistance are also part of the relief funds.
Robyn Rowe is a senior program associate and direct support service professional at Bancroft's Jacob Schaefer Center in Cherry Hill. The Washington Township resident works directly with patients in the adult education program, with patients who live with a range of challenges including intellectual disabilities, Down syndrome, autism and cerebral palsy, but also depression and anxiety. Patients, frustrated at their inability to express or care for themselves, sometimes act out or engage in self-injuring behaviors like punching, scratching or biting.
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After training as a certified nursing assistant and emergency medical technician, Rowe worked at Cooper University Hospital for 17 years, including the first two years of the pandemic.
"When COVID hit, it was unbelievable, awful," she recalled. "People were dying and it was so mentally, physically and emotionally draining."
She would come home from 12- and 16-hour shifts and cry, exhausted from caring for dying patients and worrying as her colleagues became sick with the coronavirus. "People who don't work in health care have no idea how bad it was," she said.
But the challenges weren't only at work: The mother of three and grandmother of two had more people at home, a child whose school had closed and higher utility bills to pay. She had to cut back on work to be home for her youngest child, and her paychecks reflected that.
"It was complicated ... There were nights when we had peanut butter and jelly, days when my daughter wanted to go somewhere and I had to say, 'No, money is tight right now,'" Rowe remembered.
"Life goes on and debt doesn't care. I still had to pay my mortgage so there were things that went to the back burner: credit cards, extracurricular activities, other bills that are still haunting me."
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The pandemic "has rocked every industry to its core, including the field of caregiving which is among the most thankless of jobs,” said Commissioner Ed McDonnell in a statement. “Our hope is that these funds will provide some relief and support for those working these incredibly important and difficult jobs.”
“These funds will provide necessary relief to those who have dedicated their professional lives to taking care of others," said Toni Pergolin, president and CEO of Bancroft, which assists people with autism, intellectual and developmental disabilities, brain injuries and neurological conditions.
"The dedication and commitment of our direct support professionals and classroom assistants during the pandemic has been nothing short of phenomenal," said Stefanie A. Riehl, executive director of the Larc School. "We are so grateful that they will now have an added boost to support their own families."
Rowe, who's been with Bancroft since November, said the $1,000 grant is "a godsend."
"I'll be putting this all towards things that have been wearing on my shoulders for all this time."
More information
Applications for the program are available online at CamdenCountyCaregrant.com or by calling 856-389-6704 between 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.
Phaedra Trethan has been a reporter and editor in South Jersey since 2007 and has covered Camden and surrounding areas since 2015, concentrating on issues relating to quality of life and social justice for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. She's called South Jersey home since 1971. Contact her with feedback, news tips or questions at ptrethan@gannettnj.com, on Twitter @By_Phaedra, or by phone at 856.486-2417.
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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: COVID relief money for Camden County NJ caregivers 'a godsend'
