I have been asked to make a Mpls connection to the post on nursing home and senior services funding. Don't know if this cuts it, but here are a couple of connections. Mpls (and now increasingly the first ring suburbs) has a high percentage of elderly citizens. We should be as concerned about the services they get (or don't) as we are for other poplulation groups. Nursing homes are just one "service," but it is a benchmark for how we view the needs of some of our most vulnerable citizens. Bad snow plowing policies, poor transportation, non-pedestrian friendly stop light timing and lack of accessible neighborhood services also affect seniors in ways we relatively young and able bodied folks cannot imagine. DIrect funding for nursing homes is mostly county, state and some federal (not an expert, so if someone has other info, let me know). However, we have a crisis in affordable housing in our city, which includes housing for the elderly. Assisted living units are expensive to build and maintain, and the city could invest some of its affordable housing funds for such developments. Additionally, there have been a lot of posts on this list about affordable jobs for city residents. Although some would disagree, I do not believe a job that pays a maximum of $10 per hour is a living wage, yet that is the prevailing wage for nursing home assistants. Those who work as aides in city nursing homes are almost always city residents. If nursing homes continue to close because they cannot afford to exist on the government subsidies, what will happen to the increasing population of people (more often women) over 85 in our city who may need these services and the in-home services the nursing homes provide? What about the increasing need for assisted living units which are not currently subsidized? Regardless of the funding source, nursing homes and other services for seniors are issues for Mpls residents, so it seems fair game for Mpls Issues. However, if this does not meet the test, so be it. Fran Guminga Bottineau, Ward 3 _______________________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
