Hands to Help Seniors

Fifty years after President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a war on poverty, there are millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet.  With food and gas prices rising rapidly, seniors on a fixed income are having a terribly difficult time this year.  Republicans in the House of Representatives have convened a series of meetings on poverty in America, arguing that hundreds of billions of dollars of government spending has done little to solve poverty.  Therefore, Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) and others in his camp believe that more social benefits should be cut.  Although the stock market and economy have rebounded quite a bit, most of the gains have gone to the nation's wealthiest people and the prospect of the poor and seniors on a fixed income facing more cutbacks is extremely depressing.  There is no easy solution to the problem, but cutting government assistance programs further doesn't seem to be the answer.

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There are so many hungry people on the Monterey Peninsula, it was good to read that Carmel High students participated in a nationwide movement called Empty Bowl, which works to bring awareness to hunger.  During the program, they made handmade bowls, which will be used to serve soup to attendees at a fundraiser.  Funds are then used to combat hunger.  At Carmel High School, they will use the fundraiser to showcase student art, and host an open house for the new science wing.  If you're free, I encourage you to attend April 30 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the Upper Quad at Carmel High School.  Bread and gourmet soups which were donated by local restaurants will be served, and the fee is $20 per person, with all proceeds to go to Ag Against Hunger.  

http://www.montereyherald.com/localnews/ci_25479763/carmel-students-raise-money-combat-hunger

About Richard Kuehn & Hands to Help Seniors:

After more than a decade of caregiving, both in a professional environment and for a 97 year old family member, it became clear to me that there are many seniors that can't afford to pay for a private duty caregiver, not to mention medical expenses, food and property taxes on their home.  I decided to form a non-profit to help seniors with any service they might need to get by, should they be unable to afford this themselves.  From putting on a new roof to providing a hot meal, Hands to Help Seniors is there to help.  Please visit my blog where I talk about important senior issues at:

http://www.h2hs.org/news-and-media.html

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View From A Non-Profit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad California

The new health care reform laws have resulted in more than 3 million Americans being added to the Medicaid system, called Medi-Cal in California.  The number has grown from 58 million to 61 million since the law was implemented, and will grow even further as data was missing from four states in the numbers reported to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.  California was one of the states that expanded the Medi-Cal program and Kathleen Sebelius, the Secretary of the Health and Human Services Department, noted that states that expanded the program saw an increase of 8.3% in February compared with 1.6% for those that didn’t.  The numbers are still high given that there are only 317 million people in the U.S.

Please note that this blog reflects my personal opinion and may or may not reflect the opinion of Hands to Help Seniors and the individual members comprising the Board of Governors.

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View From A Non-Profit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad California

The divide between the rich and the poor continues to widen.  The wealth of the average American reached its highest level ever last year, with the net worth of all U.S. households and non-profit organizations jumping 14% ($10 trillion) to $80.7 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank.  "Wealth inequality has increased over time," said William Emmons, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.  "So there seems to be a disconnect.  There are big wealth gains, but not much following through on consumer spending," he said.  This is due largely to the fact that the gains last year mostly came from the stock market, which disproportionately benefitted wealthy Americans.  Monterey County is one of the most expensive places in the nation, and many retired seniors are still suffering after the last recession.

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View From A Non-Profit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad California

Veterans have been through so much lately with the much-publicized computer problems at the Veteran's Administration (VA) delaying the processing of claims.  Although the government is working to improve this situation, we've all seen how difficult this is to actually execute on given all the problems with the health insurance web site.  Now, a group of Vietnam veterans have filed suit against the U.S. government alleging that they were given other-than-honorable discharges from the military which today would simply be attributed to the psychological stress of combat. The class action suit says that veterans of post Sept. 11 wars who suffered similar PTSD were given medical discharges.  If this is true, I hope the lawsuit is successful.  At Family inHome Caregiving we have a number of senior veterans that get in home care thanks to the Veterans Administration.  Without this insurance, many would be unable to afford to pay for the service.

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