Valley Interfaith Project leaders recently celebrated Dick White and the many contributions he made to the St Patrick’s Catholic Community, and to the people of Arizona. This is the story of just one of those contributions and the impact Dick made.
It was under Dick’s leadership that St. Patrick’s joined East Valley Interfaith (EVI), an Industrial Areas Foundation organization, to work on issues of justice. In the early 2000s, EVI and VIP leaders became concerned about issues related to healthcare. Dick had a gift for knowing how to develop powerful relationships around issues affecting quality of life for families and he was instrumental in that work. In 2003 EVI merged with VIP and the organizing work around healthcare issues continued. Stories were emerging about the need for respite experienced by family caregivers but it took many conversations and research actions to find a workable solution.
In 2007 Dick, and other key leaders, secured a sponsor at the Legislature and VIP filed SB1317 Arizona Lifespan Respite Care Act seeking to establish a structure to provide care for caregivers in Arizona in response to the Public Law 109--442 Title XXIX—Lifespan Respite Care passed by Congress in 2006. As President of VIP in 2007, Dick wrote:
Family caregivers are the backbone of the long-term care industry, providing 80% of all caregiving for children and adults with mental and physical disabilities and frail elders. We must protect their health. This will provide a break for Arizona’s caregiving families. In the state of Arizona, 546,456 caregivers provide 5.85 million hours of care per year at a value of $5.8 billion. Each of these caregivers spends at least 20 hours per week caring for their loved ones. Respite care often makes the difference between keeping loved ones at home and having to place them in an institution.”
During the 2007 legislative session, Dick White and several other stalwart VIP leaders were at the Legislature every day working on passage of SB1317, meeting with legislators and gathering support for passage. Dick brought his many years of experience, leadership and compassion to the table in full force for the all-out effort to get this bill passed. It did pass, making Arizona the fourth state in the country to establish a Lifespan Respite Care Program and qualify for federal funding. This program is still funded and continues to support respite care for families all over the State of Arizona. Since 2008, over 4,000 family caregivers have been served.
There are many ways that Dick White made the world a better place but his work on the Lifespan Respite Care bill continues to make an impact every day and will continue to as long as there are family caregivers in Arizona. This is what systemic change is all about and Dick White knew it.