How We Work

In Communities

Caring Across Generations is building a care movement across the country, supporting grassroots campaigns in state and local communities, engaging policymakers, and providing on-the-ground and digital regional organizing expertise.

Caring Across staff member Aisha Adkins and Shelly Simmons of Statewide Independent Living Council Georgia smile and pose together at an event.
A person with Brown skin, wearing a yellow Black Voters t-shirt, shares informational materials with another person.

Care Can't Wait in the States

Our Care Can’t Wait in the States program collaborates with state and local partners to advance, equitable, affordable, accessible care at every stage of life, secure support for family caregivers, and ensure good jobs for care workers.

Together, we build power through grassroots organizing, creating campaigns that allow us to bring new people and organizations to the table and build our bench of state-based care activists. We also focus on shifting the way we value care through narrative and culture change and elevating care as part of the public discourse.

States

Key States

Our work in California is to bring partners who represent aging and disability, child care, and paid leave to the table to win an equitable care system for ALL Californians. From disabled people, older adults, and family caregivers to union members and all care workers, our goal is to uplift those most impacted by a broken care system and support work on the ground to make care jobs good jobs and to allow Californians to age and thrive in their communities. Our goals in California are to win a statewide long term care insurance benefit and strengthen Medi-Cal to make home and community based accessible to everyone, win paid leave policies that ensure that no Californian is forced to choose between taking care of their own health or their family member and their paycheck, secure affordable, culturally affirming early childhood education that meets the needs of every family, and ensure care workers are paid family-sustaining wages and benefits.

Our CA partners include: Black Californians for Early Childhood Education, California Alliance for Retired Americans, California Work & Family Coalition, Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network, Parent Voices, Pilipino Workers Center, Senior Disability Action, and UDW/AFSCME Local 3930.

Most Illinoians want to live and age in their own homes and communities, but the undervaluing of care leaves disabled people, older adults, and family caregivers without the services and support they need. Care workers remain underpaid, and while every worker deserves the time to care for themselves and their family members or bond with a new child, 76% of all Illinois workers don’t have paid family and medical leave  We want to ensure child care is affordable and accessible for every family using state and federal investments that reflect the true cost of care. Our work in Illinois is to bring organizations and partners working on all facets of care together to fight for an equitable care system that works for ALL Illinoians.

Our IL partners include: Access Living of Metro Chicago, SEIU HCII, Shriver Center on Poverty Law, The Arc of Illinois, and Women Employed.

Most Michiganders want to live and age in their homes and communities, but the lack of good jobs and family sustaining wages and benefits means that older adults, disabled people, and family caregivers are able to access the services and supports they need. The cost of child care for an infant is more expensive than the cost of housing, even as child care workers remain underpaid with minimal benefits. This includes benefits such as paid family and medical leave which is only available to 76% of Michiganders. Together Care Can’t Wait Michigan is working to ensure that older adults and disabled people have access to care at every stage of life, family caregivers have the support they need, and care jobs provide family sustaining wages and benefits and the ability to join together in a union.

Our MI partners include: Alzheimer’s Association Greater Michigan Chapter, Black Women in Homecare, Detroit Disability Power, Michigan Elder Justice Initiative, Oakland Forward, Mothering Justice, National Domestic Workers Alliance, SEIU Michigan, Southeast Michigan Senior Regional Collaborative, and The Arc Michigan.

In Georgia we’re building a coalition that represents ALL Georgians who want a more equitable and functional care system. Collectively we are working to increase wages for care workers, win additional investments in home and community-based services and early childhood education, and establish equitable and inclusive paid leave policies.

Our GA partners include: Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy, Care in Action, New Georgia Project, Georgia Head Start Association, Georgia Stand-Up, New Disabled South, 9 to 5 Georgia, Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers, SEIU, The Arc Georgia, and We Dream in Black Georgia/National Domestic Workers Alliance.

Our partners at New York Caring Majority are leading a campaign for fair pay direct care workers and single payer health care that includes long-term care.

Our NY partners include: Association on Aging New York, Chinese American Planning Council (CPC), Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Association of New York State, Cooperative Home Care Associates, Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network, Jews for Racial & Economic Justice, National Domestic Workers Alliance, and New York Association on Independent Living.

Two hands, belonging to people with brown skin, clasp.

Want to be part of CCW in the States?

If you represent a local, state, or regional organization working on care and you would like to join Care Can’t Wait in the States, email us at info@caringacross.org.