National Storytelling Event Highlights Universal Need for Caregiving

WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 16, 2024) – On Friday, September 13, Family Values @ Work (FV@W) hosted an unforgettable evening of storytelling to illuminate the often-overlooked work of caregiving.

The event, called Caring Out Loud, featured speakers from across the country sharing their struggles with providing care to loved ones or getting care themselves. Every speaker is a committed advocate for more family-friendly policies such as paid family and medical leave, paid sick and safe leave, and lowering the cost and providing greater access to child care.

Despite widespread bipartisan support for these policies, the United States is the only industrialized nation without a federal paid leave program. More than 1 in 5 Americans, 53 million people, are unpaid family caregivers, who provide more than $600 billion in unpaid care, which disproportionately falls on women and particularly women of color. Family caregivers experience significant workforce and earning losses, and are often providing care without training or other support.

Keʻōpū Reelitz, from Kailua, Hawaii, was working two jobs when her first child was born. Without paid family leave, she had no choice but to return to work as soon as possible. “It was like taking these invisible weights and putting them on my shoulder, day in and day out,” explained Reelitz. Now she advocates for every family to have access to paid leave to care for their children. “I have been fighting for families, fighting for policies and investments that aren’t just going to give them more things but are instead going to be taking that load off, taking the weight off of their shoulders.”

In another heart wrenching story, Tony Iovieno from Battle Creek, Mich., shared how he recently lost his brother in a devastating car accident. It was up to him and his family to take care of his brother’s surviving spouse and young child. Thanks to paid leave provided through his employer, he was able to take time off to provide care, but others in his family were not so fortunate. “The rest of my family—farmers, preschool teachers, nursing assistants, small business owners—they don’t have paid leave. These are the same people we clapped for and called ‘essential’ during the pandemic. But we don’t treat them as essential when it comes to supporting them through life’s hardest moments. Where is their paid leave?”

Preston Van Vliet from Lansing, Mich., recounted how he was hospitalized for several days after a random attack that left him brutally beaten. The attackers broke his jaw in seven places and left him severely concussed. Doctors had to implant metal plates in his jaw. It took him months to recover, but he was fortunate to have access to paid leave through his job. “I am eternally grateful for the paid leave that I had. Otherwise, I would have had to go back to work immediately,” explained Van Vliet.

Rhonda Wilson, from Marietta, Ga., detailed her experience caring for a woman she had only just met who was suddenly hospitalized. For months, Wilson worked with two friends to stay by her bedside around the clock. “That experience showed me that care goes beyond your blood family. And that it’s okay to care for others, even if they are not direct relatives. We all still need care.”

Kris Garcia, from Littleton, Colo., was in a training program for his dream promotion at work, only to be interrupted with the terrible news that his wife’s grandfather was hospitalized. He feared he would be reprimanded for taking time off to care for his family, but to his surprise, his employer gave him three days of paid leave and an opportunity to continue his training upon returning to work. “How awesome is that – to have that feeling of not worrying about being able to take that time?” he asked. Since then, he’s successfully worked to pass paid family and medical leave in his home state of Colorado.

Jennifer Morales, from Viroqua, Wis., shared her struggle navigating emergency care for her adult son living in another state suffering life-threatening COVID complications. “One thing I wasn’t worried about: my job,” explained Morales, who was able to travel across the country to care for her son thanks to paid leave made available through her employer.

In the absence of a federal program, advocates have pushed states and local municipalities to address the need for paid leave. Over the last two decades, FV@W’s member coalitions have been instrumental in winning more than 64 new paid sick days laws and 14 new paid family and medical leave programs, impacting nearly 63 million workers and their families.

Caring Out Loud was live streamed to viewers around the country. A recording of the livestream can be viewed here, and photo highlights can be viewed here.

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Family Values @ Work is a movement network of grassroots organizers and coalitions in more than two dozen states working toward economic, racial and gender justice. www.familyvaluesatwork.org