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Independence in doubt Mail Tribune / Drew Fleming Dorothy Eastman, 77, of Talent, is independent and living alone in part thanks to a state program that funds living assistance for her. Without it, Eastman says she�d be one step closer to a nursing home. Seniors rely on their state-supplied helpers, but budget problems could end the program By Dani Dodge Every Friday, 77-year-old Dorothy Eastman gets thrown a lifeline named Robin Kay. Kay, 30, vacuums the floors of Eastman�s tiny Talent apartment. She washes the sheets and makes the bed. Kay even picks up Eastman�s prescriptions from the pharmacy. In essence, Kay does everything Eastman hasn�t been able to accomplish since the onset of debilitating arthritis and recent knee replacement and breast cancer surgeries. "She allows me to be independent," Eastman says. "She�s getting to be like a daughter to me." Kay isn�t related to Eastman at all. If Gov. John Kitzhaber gets his budget cuts, the state program that pays for her to go to Eastman�s home once a week will end. Kay is hired to help Eastman through Oregon Project Independence, a program intended to allow low-income seniors to continue to live in their homes instead of moving into nursing facilities. Last year, 328 Jackson County seniors got assistance through Project Independence. Legislators are fighting to preserve the program. At a meeting Monday, state Senate leaders will meet with the governor to try to come to some agreement on the budget and possibly save Project Independence. It�s likely to be the first of many budget wrangling sessions. Seniors are praying that legislators will succeed. For Eastman, the loss of Project Independence would put her one step closer to a nursing home. "I don�t know what I�d do without this little bit of help," Eastman says, smoothing her glossy silver hair. "I�ve still got my mentality and I can still fix myself a meal and I can get out of bed and have a shower. I don�t want to have to go into a home until it�s absolutely necessary. "It would break my heart." The program began in 1975 after senior advocates from Southern Oregon spearheaded an effort to help seniors stay in their homes. Although the federal Medicaid program also helps seniors with home care, it assists only a very select group of seniors who are near or below the poverty level. To qualify for Medicaid, seniors must have less than $2,000 in liquid assets and get less than $700 a month in income. The senior advocates in the �70s saw a need to help people before they had fallen to that level, says Don Bruland, who has been the director of Senior and Disability Services for the Rogue Valley Council of Governments for more than 25 years. "Before OPI, you were required to pay the full costs (of care) or you would have to in fact become destitute and the state will take over the whole thing," Bruland says. "This was a time when you either stayed in your own home on your own, or you went into a nursing facility. "(The senior advocates) said, �We can save taxpayer money if we pay a little bit and help these people stay in their own homes.� " Project Independence takes care of some of the little things that less-mobile seniors need, such as help with bathing, mopping floors or grocery shopping, on a sliding fee scale. People at or below the poverty level � which means someone living on $687 a month � get the services for free. People at twice the poverty level � those receiving $1,374 a month � pay full price for services. The average person enrolled in Project Independence has someone come in to help them once or twice a week for an average monthly cost of $168 per client. About 30 percent of the clients pay a portion of the fee. For the first time in a decade, the state is facing cuts in order to balance its budget. And while Kitzhaber praises Project Independence and its aims, he wants to cut the $13.7 million project to fund a new program to screen all first-born children in Oregon. Statistics show that 60 percent of first-born children face social or medical risk. The screening is intended to put at-risk children and their parents in touch with the medical and social services necessary to give the children a healthy start. "The reason early childhood intervention is so important is because ... if we can intervene early on, we can prevent an entire lifetime of problems down the road," says Kitzhaber spokesman Jon Coney. "It allows those kids an equal opportunity to live a healthy happy life." Coney says Project Independence was identified as one of the necessary cuts because it�s one of the few state programs that isn�t federally mandated and doesn�t get federal matching funds. And while lawmakers were supportive of Kitzhaber�s budget when it was first released, some later worried about the trade-offs. "There�s a lot of bipartisan support for restoring Project Independence," says Sen. Lenn Hannon, an Ashland Republican. "Both Republicans and Democrats find it difficult to say, �Let�s create new programs for children� while we are booting seniors out of their homes." Hannon, co-chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, will meet with Kitzhaber Monday to discuss budget issues. "Whether it is restored depends a great deal on not funding some of the governor�s new programs," Hannon says. "That�s the trade-off we have to get resolved." Rep. Alan Bates, a Democrat from Eagle Point, says that as a physician he�s visited seniors in nursing homes and seniors living in their homes with Project Independence. He says the Project Independence folks are happier. "The sentiment I�m getting up here is Project Independence can�t be dropped," Bates says. "If nothing else, it�s too cost-effective. ... Without it, most will end up in nursing homes and they�ll run through their personal assets quickly and then they�ll be wards of the state." Both Hannon and the governor�s office say nothing will be completely resolved until May when new budget projections are released. Legislators hope the projections will show a little more wiggle room in the skintight budget. Administrators for the program say even if the state�s budget projections remain bleak, Project Independence is a proven cost-saving program. "It�s not a frill," Bruland says. "The most common type of assistance we give people is helping them with baths once a week. "We can do that for a whole year for less than it will cost if they fall and go into the hospital for even a day." Bruland notes that many seniors in this area don�t have family nearby � some because they retired here and others because their children left during one of the region�s economic downturns. Bruland says most Project Independence clients can�t qualify for Medicaid because they are trying to hold onto their nest egg of $10,000 or so. "For some people that may be what they have to show for their life of work," he says. Lucinda Hardy, the Project Independence case manager for Jackson County, says she sees positive impacts from the program every day � and it�s more than just having a shiny kitchen floor. "What I see is that it keeps people from giving up and leaving their own homes and apartments," Hardy says. "Just this little bit of help gives them the emotional support that makes them feel they can live independently." Robin Kay, who visits Eastman for two hours every week, is a psychology student at Southern Oregon University. She expects to continue in social work even after she gets her degree. She earns just over minimum wage and has been providing this kind of care for five years. When she�s in seniors� homes, she�s not just getting rid of the dust. She�s also checking on their psychological well-being and assessing whether their needs have increased. She can suggest that they sign up for free meals or get a wheelchair ramp to their front door. "There�s a lot of seniors and disabled that would otherwise be overlooked," Kay notes. "Some have no family left. They are just terrified." Eastman, a widow, has pictures of her children and grandchildren on her wall, but all live too far away for regular visits. Her sister lives just down the road, but she�s diabetic and blind � and needs help also. Eastman�s doctor first suggested she try Project Independence five years ago when her arthritis became so severe she couldn�t do some of her simple chores. Eastman�s income of $901 a month doesn�t leave her room to employ a housekeeper after she pays for expenses and medication. "I�ve already gone through my nest egg," she says. But she quickly perks up when Kay walks through the door, her arms loaded with freshly laundered sheets. "When you don�t have many visitors, it�s just such a blessing to have her visit," Eastman says. After she leaves, Eastman sighs. "She vacuums good," she says. "We�re very fortunate. I don�t know what in the world I�d do without their help. I�ve always been so clean, I couldn�t stand it if she didn�t come." Reach reporter Dani Dodge at 776-4471, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.