We want the same Human Rights and services that recovering drug and alcohol users have, they have FREE REHABILITATION. WE WANT FREE OVERNIGHT RESPITE FOR OUR LOVED ONES

We the UNPAID CAREGIVERS have saved the FEDERAL AND PROVINCIAL government, regional government, municipalities and cities over TWENTY FOUR BILLION $$$'s in UNPAID Caregiving last year!!!

MEANWHILE AT THE TROUGH ---> Our Provincial Government is WASTEFULLY SQUANDERING YOUR MONEY on tribunals on committees on reports on tribunals a never-ending circus of ridiculousness!!!

Being an UNPAID CAREGIVER is what you do for love. The love of your spouse, your mom, dad, family and friends - xo

We the UNPAID CAREGIVERS OF LOVED ONES  Call upon Federal and Provincial Governments to honour our Human Rights by giving us FREE OVERNIGHT RESPITE for our loved ones close to home, after all, they are the victims of vicious diseases.  Victims that are generally suffering from terminal illnesses.

Many of us UNPAID CAREGIVERS of loved ones are already struggling to try to keep up with demands from caregiving, work, families, home, paying bills, laundry, housework, shopping etc.

We the UNPAID CAREGIVERS of loved ones have to pay for our loved ones to go into secure overnight respite facilities to give us and our loved ones a short mental break from each other. 

Overnight respite costs anywhere from $39.46 a day up to $100+ a day.10 days @ $100 is $1,000 plus the adult day program cost $168 = $1,168 - I have not had a vacation in 13 years THAT means day and night I have been caring for my husband for 13 years ALONE!!! 

PLUS we have to pay for the days our loved ones when they do not attend Adult Day Programs in order to secure their place at the Adult Day Programs as spaces are limited and in some instances have a 2 + year waiting list. 

We the UNPAID CAREGIVERS are NOT TRAINED TO HANDLE THE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL DEMANDS FOR THE TASKS REQUIRED TO CARE FOR OUR LOVED ONES.  WE HAVE TO WING IT AND LEARN OUR SKILL SET 'ON THE JOB'... 

PROFESSIONAL CAREGIVERS ARE TRAINED THOROUGHLY AND CERTIFIED AND PAID TO LOOK AFTER OUR LOVED ONES IN A RESPITE FACILITY and they deserve more pay. MORE HELP IN THE HOME WOULD really be GREAT.

PLUS there are the extra exponential frustrating stressors such as the never-ending juggle with bureaucratic RED TAPE, LINH, care coordinators, PSW's not turning up or turning up late. 

We are trying our best to keep our loved ones in safe familiar surroundings at home for as long as possible. (remember we had this position thrust upon us, we are NOT TRAINED IN THE SKILL SETS REQUIRED FOR CAREGIVING THAT PROFESSIONALS ARE PAID FOR, but we do it because the alternative is unthinkable).

We look after our loved ones to the best of our abilities, we advocate for them when necessary and try to keep their quality of life rich.  Their memory may be failing but we know they can enjoy 'the moment' and know the 'moment' they shared was joyous, even if they don't remember it 3 seconds later. We like to keep our loved one's life fulfilling and safe. 

We UNPAID CAREGIVERS of loved ones are not rich enough to look after ourselves,  but not poor enough to get government assistance. We, unfortunately, fall between the bureaucratic cracks and get lost, in a never-ending shuffle of red tape and waste of resources...

We, UNPAID CAREGIVERS of loved ones, HAVE to recharge our spiritual, emotional, psychological, physical batteries on a regular basis.  We are totally exhausted and we cannot function efficiently for ourselves or for our loved ones.  

IF WE DO NOT GET A BREAK we cannot continue to do a good job of caring for our loved ones at home keeping them safe and comfortable in friendly, familiar surroundings, we are suffering from Caregiver Burnout.

When we UNPAID CAREGIVERS of loved ones suffer Caregiver Burnout/Mental Fatigue because we didn't get a break, we suffer something very similar to PTSD, which is not good for our loved ones or ourselves, it's a never-ending circle of frustration and loneliness.

The Caregiver Burnout/Mental Fatigue that can, in turn, lead to the UNPAID CAREGIVERS themselves dying early, from a heart attack or a stroke or depression, Dementia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Cancer these diseases all are our bodies responses to stress, obesity, weight loss, suicide. 

We UNPAID CAREGIVERS of loved ones are all struggling every day with our own battles with guilt and grief.  Should the UNPAID CAREGIVER DIE, this would mean leaving our loved one with no one to care for them, other than the government who could have alleviated this situation if we had, had, FREE OVERNIGHT RESPITE. 

The only alternative open to UNPAID CAREGIVERS of Loved Ones if we do not get free overnight respite to get a break, is that we have to take our loved ones to the local hospital and leave them there for the staff to administer to their needs (suggested to me by a care coordinator). 

The staff at the hospital would then try to admit our loved ones to the Regional beds if no secure beds are available at a local  Long-term Care Facility.  OR WORSE CASE  SCENARIO our loved ones are transferred into a Long Term Care facility that is usually far away from home, so our loved ones get no visitors which adds to the blend of confusion, depression, cognitive impairment, hearing loss, all a recipe for disaster. 

Try getting to Hamilton or Toronto on a bus or train from outside of Toronto.  It will take you over 2 - 4 hours travel time to get there (Poor public transit connections outside of Toronto limits access to visitations)

Only the UNPAID CAREGIVERS of loved ones that are lucky enough to have access to a vehicle can visit their loved ones on a regular basis when they are placed in Longterm Care facilities that are not close to home.

I signed my marriage vows, a contract, not to be entered into lightly.  For richer, for poorer, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, as long as we both shall live, in front of God, my new husband, our families, our minister and our friends... 

Fast forward 52 years and I am still honouring my vows to my husband and the contract I signed and I am now my husband's sole UNPAID CAREGIVER, HAVE BEEN FOR 13 YEARS...

Basic pay for a PSW is approximately $16.53 an hour, there are 168 hours in a week I look after my husband ALONE for 135 hours in a week  I receive NOTHING, ZILCH, NADA, ZERO, 0. 

I do it for love. There are 168 hours in a week, I am his sole caregiver for 135 of those hours

If however, I had been a PAID CAREGIVER I would have been paid approximately $1,509,430 covering the past 13 years for caregiving, since my husband's diagnosis.  $1,509,430, the money I should have received from the Federal and Provincial governments, after all, I am working for them, I am an UNPAID CAREGIVER OF A LOVED ONE

Please help us by signing this petition to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Premier of Ontario Doug Ford, Minister Christine Elliott and Halton Region Chairman Gary Carr and PLEASE share with your family, friends and colleagues...