Supporting caregivers is key to helping disabled adults thrive | Opinion

Adults with disabilities want to live as independently as possible. Like all people in our community, they deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. They also need care and support that is tailored to their individual needs and interests. With the help of trained caregivers who provide transportation for errands and appointments, help with medication and meals, and support with daily living activities like dressing and hygiene, many members of our Bellingham community are doing just that.

I’m a caregiver for adults with disabilities at Evergreen Supported Living. I love working with my clients. Before I had this job, I worked retail, it felt soulless. In this job, I can see how I have improved someone’s day. Our jobs can be challenging at times, so in-depth hands-on training and supportive management is critical. That’s why caregivers at Evergreen voted to unionize, so we can have a voice in creating conditions that ensure the safety and wellbeing of our clients and attract and retain great caregivers.

It is so important for staff to know how to work with our clients, properly administer medication and provide consistency in care. When time shadowing experienced care staff is cut back, it’s hard for new employees to get in-depth knowledge of our clients’ needs. Building trusting relationships and consistency of routines between caregivers over the course of 24-hour shifts is really important for the wellbeing of our clients, some of whom are nonverbal, or have serious physical disabilities.

It’s hard enough keeping good people and training them so that care is consistent. Low pay and disrespectful treatment drives high staff turnover and that’s detrimental to our clients’ wellbeing. Short staffing jeopardizes our ability to provide the high quality care our clients deserve.

For example, outings in the community — not just grocery shopping and doctors appointments — are so important to our clients’ physical and mental health. But when staffing is kept to a bare minimum, our clients only get out for medical appointments and grocery shopping. That leaves little to no room for something recreational - they feel cooped up and that shows up in behavior. Adults with disabilities have their own personal interests, goals, and need for community, just like we all do. Care staff at Evergreen value our relationships with our clients, people who are not always valued in our society. We are there to help adults with disabilities to live the way they want to live, to grow and learn and get to do the fun things they want to do too, not just exist.

Evergreen Supported Living, and all providers of in-home care, can make a huge positive difference in the lives of people with disabilities when they invest in the people providing care. Even with looming cuts to Medicaid approved by Congress on the horizon, we’re fortunate in Washington that our state actually increased the reimbursement rate for community-based providers by 4. 7% in 2025 [and 4.1% in 2024] — that means organizations like Evergreen have more money, not less, to invest in livable wages and affordable benefits for care staff.

We’re thankful for our B’Ham community for being a welcoming place for people with disabilities, and for supporting us in our efforts to make carework a valued and respected profession. The last thing we want to do is go on strike, but if Evergreen Supported Living doesn’t step up and prioritize the people who are making the biggest difference in our clients’ quality of life, we’ll have no choice. When caregivers get the support we need, adults with disabilities can thrive.

Trent Mulder is a direct care provider at Evergreen Supported Living in Bellingham .

This story was originally published September 29, 2025 at 11:33 AM.