'We'll end up on the streets': LA caregivers for elderly, disabled push for higher pay
In the mornings, Rosa Andresen showers hurriedly before her daughter wakes up, worried the 24-year-old might suffer a seizure or tumble out of the bed while she is still shampooing her hair.
Her daughter Amanda Andresen, who does not speak, was born with a condition affecting the part of the brain that bridges its left and right sides. Her walking is unsteady, and she needs to be assisted from the moment she gets up.
In the front room of their South Gate home, Rosa guided Amanda gently from a cushy sofa to the dining table, where she had prepared a mixture of Malt-O-Meal and crumbled bits of toast smeared with peanut butter, stirring them until they grew mushy enough to swallow.
"I've been doing everything since birth for my daughter," Rosa said, feeding Amanda the Malt-O-Meal one spoonful at a time until her daughter pushed the bowl away.
When her husband died nearly a decade ago, Rosa worried about how she would pay their bills, since she couldn't leave Amanda daily to work. That was when someone told her about the In-Home Supportive Services program. It pays assistants to help people who are elderly or disabled stay safely in their own homes. Rosa became a paid caregiver
