Every day, more than 800,000 Washingtonians perform a great labor of love: caring for older parents, spouses, and other loved ones so they can remain at home.

This statistic, from AARP, includes many islanders who have become round-the-clock caregivers for their homebound loved ones. At a certain point in the journey, the demands and needs of the patient exceed the capacity and resources of family members or close friends.

In its role providing support to family and independent caregivers, the Vashon Care Network receives almost daily calls from exhausted family members in desperate need of caregiving assistance. It has become clear that as Vashon’s aging population grows, there is an ever-increasing need for a cadre of independent caregivers with a range of skills and experience who islanders can hire to provide assistance with daily activities such as bathing, dressing, eating and taking their medications.

On Vashon, there is a chronic need for qualified HCAs. This means that even if a low-income family qualifies for assistance for a loved one at home, they may have a hard time finding a qualified caregiver.

In response to the need for competent, trained caregivers, the Vashon Care Network, in partnership with the Vashon Senior Center, has provided twelve scholarships over the past three years to cover the cost of training to become a Home Care Aide (HCA), certified by the State of Washington. The Department of Social and Health Services requires HCA certification to provide care to low-income individuals and families who qualify for care services paid through the state’s Community Options Program Entry System (COPES) program.

These scholarships expand the skilled island caregiving workforce, helping to ensure all island elders remain in their homes and lead healthy, active lives as long as possible.

The reality is, finding competent, well-trained caregivers, no matter what one’s income, is a huge challenge for aging islanders. At a recent gathering, family caregivers were reluctant to share the names of their paid caregivers lest they get a better offer! Finding a jewel of a caregiver has become one of the challenges of living on our island paradise.

Kelly Murphy, a recent scholarship recipient, captures the value of the scholarship program, for both the recipient and our island community, this way: “The help was huge. When you are a care giver, you don’t do it for the pay, you do it for the love of taking care of others.”

“Receiving the scholarship was super helpful because the training was over $700,” Murphy said. “Because I didn’t have to worry about the cost of paying for my training, it gave me the ability to get the training done and begin working immediately without that added stress. … There is a huge need for caregivers on the island and the more the VCN can get these scholarships into the hands of passionate, efficient, caring and loving aides, the more people we can serve and the quality of individual lives increase.”

To supplement the ever-expanding need for certified independent caregivers, the Vashon Care Network, in partnership with the Senior Center, is committed to provide training of 12 additional caregivers in 2024-25.

Applications and guidelines are available at vashoncarenetwork.org. Applications will be accepted through October 25, 2024, and selection will be completed by November 25, 2024.

For more information, email Tory Hayes at victoriansmith@comcast.net.

Tory Hayes is a Vashon Care Network board member and co-lead of the VCN Caregiver Support Committee.