Friendly House is in Mya Chamberlin’s bones. Her first exposure to the organization was as a child attending pre-school there, then again in her teens as a volunteer, and today at age 36, she’s employed there as a program director coordinating the organization’s senior activities. Prior to coming back to Friendly House three years ago, Chamberlin spent a few years working as a caregiver in a skilled nursing facility. It was this first-hand experience that gave her insight into the value of in-home and community-based care. It was here that she realized she could truly make a difference by providing seniors with the necessary supports that allow them to maintain their homes and be happy in their own communities.
A neighborhood hub in Northwest Portland since the 1930s, Friendly House offers an array of community-based services – before and after school childcare, summer activities for children, a full court gymnasium, meeting space for events, and a number of social service supports intended to enhance the quality of life for area residents.
In times of budget shortfalls and looming cuts, organizations like Friendly House are concerned with the negative impacts cuts could have on the services they provide as well as those dependent upon such services. Proposed cuts to Oregon’s 2009-2011 budget are expected to hit organizations like Friendly House particularly hard, especially when it comes to the services they provide to seniors, adults with disabilities and those who are low-income. “Between proposed cuts to Oregon Project Independence (OPI) and Medicaid, there will not be a system of support for seniors,” says Chamberlin. “This is bigger than anything I’ve seen since I started working at Friendly House. The scope of the anticipated cuts is unprecedented.”
Potential cuts include a major downsizing of OPI, an innovative model that allows seniors in Oregon to live independently and receive home-based care on a sliding fee schedule. Currently, Friendly House receives public funding to provide services to OPI clients. Chamberlin believes that programs like OPI give seniors a choice while allowing them to preserve their independence. Downsizing this program and rewriting eligibility requirements will leave many seniors without access to things like transportation assistance, personal care and chore services. Without these critical supports, some seniors will be forced to give up their homes and will likely end up in more costly skilled nursing facilities, long before they require that level of care. If things continue down this path, Chamberlin fears that “we’ll be stepping over people in the streets.”
As a mother who values both education and sustainability, and as someone who dedicates her days to working with seniors, Chamberlin understands the tough decisions facing our state leaders. “Infrastructure is great, but we cannot forget about human infrastructure. Taking care of people is a worthy goal. We need to have some respect for the blood, sweat and tears that it’s taken to build our communities.” She adds that “it’s frustrating to have a system where kids are set up against seniors. These shouldn’t be competing interests. We need to support seniors and people with disabilities the way we do our kids.”