[00:00:00] Speaker A: The truth can breakthrough.
Hi, I'm Bri.
[00:00:05] Speaker B: And I'm Marty. And we're back here at Housing Voices with Jenn Bustamante.
[00:00:11] Speaker A: Yeah. We had an incredible conversation with Jen that spilled into two episodes, really, because there was so much good information and good content, and we didn't want to cut it down hardly at all.
[00:00:26] Speaker C: No.
[00:00:26] Speaker B: Because we kept learning. Right. And the joy that she shows and the work that she does, I think you all see that too.
[00:00:33] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:00:33] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:00:34] Speaker C: Some.
[00:00:34] Speaker A: Some horrifying stuff. It was a little bit, you know, I guess. Okay.
[00:00:38] Speaker C: That's.
[00:00:38] Speaker A: That's the situation that we're in.
[00:00:40] Speaker C: Wow.
Yeah.
[00:00:43] Speaker B: It's so amazing. And she is amazing. And we really recommend people reach out to her organization.
[00:00:48] Speaker C: Yeah. To.
[00:00:50] Speaker B: To educate themselves and to really come to her upcoming event that you're going to hear some more about.
[00:00:54] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:00:55] Speaker A: And first and foremost, make a plan.
[00:00:57] Speaker C: Right.
[00:00:58] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:00:59] Speaker A: A plan with your family.
[00:01:00] Speaker B: Make a plan. Make sure you've got your trust. You know, some of the other action items that she gave us was make the trust and update it annually.
Gather your story, really know the story and how you want to live. And don't. Don't spend your money. Yeah.
[00:01:15] Speaker A: And just a ton of good nuggets of information and. And, you know, here's what you're supposed to do. Action plans, steps that nobody tells you anything about. And I'm really excited for folks to listen to part two of our conversation with Jen to hear even more.
[00:01:32] Speaker C: Good stuff.
[00:01:33] Speaker B: Yeah, it's good.
[00:01:34] Speaker A: All right.
[00:01:36] Speaker C: From the porches and shelters, streets and the room.
If the house had voices, the truth could break through.
7,000 to 16,000 on average, depending on your level of care.
It's still expensive.
[00:02:02] Speaker B: And sometimes it seems to me our earlier numbers were just for independent living was 4800 base and for assisted living was 6500. But you're saying foster, it's more expensive.
[00:02:19] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. So they. Most homes will come in at and they'll say, I have a base rate of 6,000, but we have add ons depending on med management, physical assistance, activities of daily living, social interaction, cognitive, you know, cognitive position, so on and so forth. So they kind of work off of a point system too. Mine was very different.
Ours were ran off of a one to four level. So level one to level four, we had two care staff to five residents. 24 hours a day was very individualized care. And a lot of these homes do provide that. So you are getting a lot more attention to detail in life versus a community where you're going into A condo and your door is shutting and they're checking every couple hours. Their ratios are one care staff to 12 to 14, 12 to 15. Excuse me.
Different numbers, my friend. And you're paying different amounts of money for that.
[00:03:26] Speaker B: Yeah. What future housing options are you projecting to see? Are you hoping to see that might be good solutions in order to fill the need without the enormous costs?
[00:03:41] Speaker C: You know, I don't know if we're going to be able to escape that because in home care is the most expensive care you can receive. In home care right now is depending on what you need. And if you need, let's just, let's just say top end you need 24 hour care. Let's compare apples to hopefully apples.
But if you need 24 hour care, you're looking at minimum 25,000 plus per month.
[00:04:09] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:04:11] Speaker A: So that's. If you have $300,000.
[00:04:15] Speaker C: Say goodbye to your. You're. You're gonna be in trouble. No, you're going to be in trouble. And then you have the complexity of managing the staffing, managing the no call, no shows, managing training people over and over and over and over and over.
[00:04:30] Speaker A: Well, it'd be tough as someone who used to do that work too. After I went from an assisted living, I went to in home care and I drove to all different types of folks's homes. When I did that work, I was not paid well, first of all, like not, not enough for the amount of work for the, the, the job that it was truly and a lot of. And it's a very, like, it's a very transient like population in terms of the workforce. Like there's a lot of turnover. They go to different organizations and you know, I think in here it's like new horizons and then there's like senior helpers and then there are independent outfits and stuff like that. And people bounce around all the time. And a lot of my clients would be getting perpetually frustrated that they don't have consistent people, consistent care and then that has impact on their health. Right. Because there's a different person the next day who may not have the same experience for med management or something. Things fall through the cracks. Right. And you're just not getting good care because these people are not getting paid well.
[00:05:43] Speaker C: Exactly. It's such a vicious dysfunctional cycle. Just is.
[00:05:50] Speaker B: Are you seeing more generational housing solutions?
[00:05:56] Speaker C: I wish we saw more.
I see that in Hawaii.
I personally live in Hawaii and I see that here because the mentality here is very tribal.
They take care of their elders, they're very Respected and loved and families. What they do is they, they take shifts and that person lives in until they pass. So the majority of, I would say the locals have that tribe mentality. They take care of each other. I think it's the emphasis.
I think it's American culture and I am part of that. I have to kick butt in life to make a paycheck to keep life sustainable for myself. I wish I could have took care of my parents. I could not.
[00:06:43] Speaker A: It's not rugged individualism that runs us all into the ground that we.
I'm not gonna totally go off on a tangent here.
[00:06:53] Speaker B: Oh, you are.
[00:06:54] Speaker A: But absolutely.
That is our culture in the United States that we also worked hard to get out. Right. The more communal it's going to, I'm gonna say white supremacy and colonialism. But anyways, that's, that is a product of all of that. And that is on purpose and by design.
[00:07:16] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. We are very frightened.
[00:07:18] Speaker B: We might have an opinion sometimes.
[00:07:20] Speaker A: I'm known to.
[00:07:21] Speaker C: That's okay. And I love that. Let's go.
[00:07:24] Speaker A: But I think part of our conversation is we have to know like what we are, are dealing with. And the entire, the entire scope of, of the problem is that doesn't matter if we have the most robust systems as well. We still have to deal with people and our communities and our beliefs and how we are treating each other. Right. Like the shame of getting old. Right. The embarrassment of, of aging. That happens to all of us. Right. You know the old adage like, well, it's hell getting old, but it beats the alternative. Right. Like that's normal. And we talked about physical disabilities. Yeah, yeah, right. We talked about it today.
[00:08:01] Speaker C: Look at the world.
I mean everybody's Botox out. Everybody is surgeries and beauty is important.
We are scared of getting old. I can't imagine what is the next you generation going to look like as we're aging. Because this generation was prideful. You know, they worked their butts off. They were managers of their own life. They were the captain, you know, and it was, it was, it's a pride thing and they, they want to keep that pride intact. But people aren't talking enough about aging not being shameful. It's not.
And it can be done beautifully. And so, you know, when I'm with my, my clients by, you know, if they, if I get the honor of sitting with somebody, you know, in the way I, we are laying this when we're laying the land for them, it's not shameful. And we are the non biased party that you can tell all the dirty secrets, too, which is also so great, is that we get to be that.
That post, that pillar for the. For the person in need and just really meeting them where they are, where they're at. And I don't say that as a cliche statement, but it is so important, regardless of the situation, regardless of family dynamics, because they're all, most of the time, pretty, most of the time, very stinky. And you get to know your family members and those who surround your family very well. When an upset like this happens, it really brings out a lot of character personalities, I've learned. Yeah, you didn't know. You're like, was I blind?
I had no idea that my sister was going to take advantage of mom, move her in and take all the money. That's a real true story happening right now. Take all the money. We don't have any idea where it went.
Every bit of it.
Exploitation happens because it's easier to keep things quiet and work with the one person that you feel safe with, with not safe. And then we've got hidden, you know, agendas and secrets that are happening. I mean, it is a mess out there.
[00:10:10] Speaker A: Well, I think there's a lot of. I think in a lot of ways, we're in kind of a tension point. And a lot of the older generations and older folks, you know, it's not what you. What your government can do for you, it's what you can do for your government. Right. And that rugged individualism of, I don't need help, I don't need anybody's assistant or a handout. Right.
And then for maybe, maybe younger folks, and maybe this is just my anecdotal, my empirical, my sample size here. If, like, what. What is the point of a government if it's not here to do things for you and help you live your life and make sure that you are safe throughout your entire life and have access to health care and a place to live and, you know, yeah, right. Like, what have I been paying taxes? What have I been paying Social Security for? What have I been paying, you know, my Medicare tax, Like, all of that if not for this? And I.
We're in the midst, I think, of a transition of the older folks who. I don't want help. I don't want you to know that I need help. None of this, because I'm supposed to handle this all on my own and nobody's supposed to help me. And trying to figure out our systems to support those people because they deserve it and they need help as well. While also working to transition our entire systems where that ethos kind of led us in a lot of ways to where we are right now with our seniors in an aging situation. And I think trying to figure out how do we make sure everybody gets the care that they need and everybody can also pay for what they need or whether they can't pay for what they need, still get that care and make sure everybody is okay in the process.
[00:11:47] Speaker C: Which is
[00:11:49] Speaker B: how do you advise for more transparency to be regarding the aging industry, particularly, you know, around adult care. Right. Facilities. Sometimes it feels a little scary or you're in the hospital with a family member and you're just like the nurse hasn't been in here for five hours. You know, there's just a lack of transparency that goes along with elder care, in my opinion.
What are some things and tools. Right. That can be used to help that?
[00:12:23] Speaker C: Yeah. So transparency, my goodness, that, that is huge across the board. First and foremost is the fact that health care and I, I'm still, we're always catching up with this all the time. Jennifer Garner, my COO and I are talking about this. We do a lot of talking publicly and teaching people about which I call the dirty secrets of long term care. It's just the truth. There's so much that's hidden. Why is it hidden?
I think it's because it's, it's highly exploited.
This is a trillion dollar industry.
A trillion dollar industry and it's sad and scary.
I, you know, we're. I, I consider a small fries today. We're not a place for mom who has captured the ether and they solely displace people.
We are a full wraparound a company on purpose so we can provide transparency so we can have honest conversations with people about their whole life, what they have. And then according to what you have, this is what we can do.
And so for us is really we like to meet one on one in groups. We talk about the power of partnership. The power of partnership is key to all things. It's partnering with people like you who can get this message out to people. It's partnering with people who, the more we speak, the more transparent parent we are, the more forthcoming we are, the more we can help each other. And I think honestly it's that boots on the ground as well as our ads and our campaigns can only do so much because people. That's white noise. People are scrolling all day long and it's like, ah, that doesn't look good. I don't need that, don't need that, don't need that. Not today. Don't need that. We touch something about 12 to 17 times if we're really by it technically, especially with aging, that least thing on our mind.
Right.
[00:14:26] Speaker B: Because we're not going to get old. Right? We're going to stay.
[00:14:29] Speaker C: We're not getting old. But the power of partnership, and we have one coming in September, I think the date is September 17th. This year is the power of the partnership. We bring the community in, everybody. We bring everybody from all walks of healthcare industry leadership community.
And we have these conversations and we pull people together in a very, you know, comfortable space to eat and drink, have a good time, but really pull people like we like to pull the community and the power partner together because we need to have these conversations. And I have no problem telling the truth. I love sitting and telling people the truth. It's my favorite thing to do.
[00:15:17] Speaker B: We are a lot alike.
[00:15:18] Speaker C: Yeah, I. Well, I just, I'm sorry, I just. You don't have time for me to lie to you or pull the wool over your life. And I have nothing to sell you except facts. And so if we have facts, honey, I'm going to give you a solution. That's what I care for you because you deserve that.
[00:15:37] Speaker A: Well, it's a respect thing as well. I feel like I respect you enough to be honest with you. I'm not going to pull the wool over your eyes and the transparency thing. And I love what you're talking about getting folks together.
As somebody who used to work in politics a ton, I was thinking. And also I would love for staffers of legislators and legislators to be there too, to hear from folks directly because there are so many things that when I went into the policy space that I took from my time working in the senior industry about forced arbitration issues, that when you go into these assisted living facilities and you sign that paperwork, also included in that stack of paperwork, you are signing away your ability to sue them if anything horrible happens to you or you are exploited. Right. Like, once you sign that away, if you are abused or neglected or treated badly in any way in this facility, you just signed away your ability to sue them and go after them and get justice that you deserve. Right. And those are things that need to be brought up to policymakers to make sure that that doesn't happen or any manner of things. Right. Like the. Our leaders are supposed to be here to help us address these challenges and, and they need, they need to know about it because they're not in these situations.
[00:16:52] Speaker B: I want to go back to a couple Things, Three things here on my list real quick. So first, I would love for you to share the dirty secrets of long term care.
[00:17:03] Speaker C: Yeah. Number one, Medicaid doesn't cover anything. I just want to be honest. It doesn't cover anything. And for those who are on Medicaid, most places don't want you because of your position. And that is a really sad fact. And we don't have a way through.
What I do is I beat the door down and I'm knock, I help people. I, I start talking about this. I negotiate. Hey, let's offset. Let me help you with somebody who pays. I'll be, I'll be on the, I'll be on the lookout. But I've got this person who needs help.
So sadly, we've got to negotiate. We've got to negotiate to protect you.
And, and that's a real hard, that's a cold hard fact.
[00:17:49] Speaker A: That's like a whole frame shift for people.
[00:17:51] Speaker C: Yeah. And, and that makes you feel like you're a piece of trash and that you're not good enough to be cared for and that you don't deserve help.
You know, I'm helping somebody because I saw his message on Facebook, who's a young person. Oh, so young.
And on Medicaid, he's been denied everywhere because he doesn't come at the correct tier because it's tier one to five. To get paid enough, not worth it.
[00:18:22] Speaker B: And it's, it's horrific.
[00:18:25] Speaker A: People fall through the tracks that way.
[00:18:27] Speaker B: So I'd also like to touch on the fact that it's a trillion dollar industry.
[00:18:31] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:18:32] Speaker A: So where's all that money going?
[00:18:34] Speaker B: Yes, that's exactly where I was going.
[00:18:37] Speaker C: I think I, I would love to know. It's kind of a black hole. Where is this money going? But there's money to be made on everything.
And you know, we, we are, we're advocates. I am an advocate by trade. And I will, I will. You want me on your team, I will fight for justice for you. And you'll win if I get the opportunity to take care of you. I promise you. Which I just did that today with my Medicaid guy. I, we won.
[00:19:04] Speaker A: Awesome.
[00:19:04] Speaker C: It's, it's, it's. We don't have enough of that because if you're not, you're not worth my time if I can't get paid. It's a trillion dollar industry.
What I want is, I want to get paid. All I want to do is just. I need to place you and I don't care about anything else. I don't care about bridging the gap for services.
Why do we have so many people falling through the cracks and they're, they're getting sent to the hospital over and over and over. I'm sure you guys have heard this.
Medicare constantly ducks everybody's. They get in trouble, they get fined if they cannot reduce readmission for these frequent flyers. But it's because we don't have connected services.
People are not being honest. They're just dipping in, pulling the cash and running the money. There's money to be made everywhere. There is this. There is a business for every little area, but not a whole business there. Fragmented businesses, they're not a whole business. We are a whole business on purpose, because this is what I've seen.
And so we talked every facet of the healthcare industry, including trying to beat the door down at the hospital, saying we have a rapid response team, we can reduce readmission. I am 100 for a hundred today. I have had zero people go back to the hospital. Why? Because I have proper placement. Because I connected all the services and I, we stayed with them anywhere from 90 to what, three months to six months, depending on what they need. We're not dropping people and allowing them to fall in the cracks. It's, it's, it's absolutely heinous. It's unethical. It's.
We are really.
It's malpractice at the end of the day.
[00:20:48] Speaker A: Well, I think, Jen, you're, I think you're doing a really good job from what our conversation is working within the system that is failing people, truly, when we come down to monetizing every single facet of people's lives and trying to get a nickel and dime out of every single opportunity because, you know, capitalism has invaded everything, including our brains.
And what do we do, right? Do we keep nickel and diming forever and ever in perpetuity? And then people who never had money and who never had a shot at making money for, for whatever reason that we can, we can go into, they just deserve to die.
Yeah, that's our solution. We have to do better. Like, we can't. And like, I love that you are doing this and it's amazing, but it can't come down to we have a million gen Bustamantes that are doing amazing work all over, and they're doing the job of the federal government and our communities for caring for our people. Right? Like, I don't want you to be as good as you are because that means that we have a deep problem. Right? And to Be clear. I'm happy that you're doing the amazing work, but I'm really sad that we need you to do it.
[00:22:00] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:22:01] Speaker C: Not. Not offended one bit. In fact, and I talk about this a lot, too. I said, hey, get me in front of the legislatures. Get me in front of the policy analysts, especially the policy analysts, who absolutely have no idea what they're doing.
Making up rules. And just hopefully it's al dente, right? Hopefully. Yeah.
[00:22:18] Speaker A: It's good enough. Right. They're sitting there, I am a millionaire. You know, maybe somebody who is. Who has, you know, $202,000. This would probably work for them. Sure. What the hell, right? Like, okay, that seems right.
[00:22:31] Speaker C: Care about the front end, the front end, the back end failing. So we. We have to go. We have to go all the way to the root. And that is policies. We have to change policies. We need to change The Medicaid policy 100%. The Medicaid program.
It needs a. It needs reform. I will say this.
It has changed. This year in 2026, January, I forgot what date, but it did change. They did up the.
They. They moved it over to the tiers 1 to 5, and they did up the amount. Thank goodness. I mean, so, you know, say goodbye to 1977. When they were written, it did get a little better, but it's not good enough. And you know why? Because let's say this is written eager between tier one and five, tiers three, four and five. But four and five is the best. That's what all of these locations are hoping for, that receive a tier four or five. They want that payment. They don't want the three and below.
So what needs to happen is we have a very big problem at Northwest Senior and Disability Services. And I will just say that until I'm blue in the face, we have a huge problem. There is such a disconnect there.
They do not have properly trained people.
They have contractors and employees that are interpreting oars, specifically Oregon Rules, and they're interpreting them.
And I believe they are not doing justice for the people. They are providing caps, assessments for the caps.
And that dictates the 512. The 512 just says, hey, this is what you pay from your Social Security. This is what we pay, or whatever that is from your caps or from your.
What is that called?
Oh, I can't think of the name right now. But. So we have a problem at all the state government agencies. Yes, the laws are bad, but let me tell you, honey, the agencies are even worse.
[00:24:35] Speaker B: So what you're Saying is that the agency is determining just for those people who might not know how this works. Right. We want to make sure that we're educating alongside. Yeah, it's this agency that you're referring to that just slapped. Slipped out of my mind.
[00:24:49] Speaker C: Northwest here in disability services, dhs, they work hand in hand.
[00:24:55] Speaker B: So they're the ones that are assessing. If you're 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
[00:25:00] Speaker C: they come out and do the assessment. Let's say somebody's in the hospital or at home, they don't have money, they need, they, they need to apply for Medicaid. They will be appointed a caseworker or a social worker. And from that point they do their due diligence. Look back five years, you know, take everything into account physically, disease processes, I mean, they're looking at everything cognitive. They're doing their assessment.
Those assessments are not going well. I have had to fight many cases for families who were like, I don't know what to do. They don't even know where to begin. They don't even need to, they don't even know the keywords to use to even fight for their loved one to tier higher because they really do need a tier higher.
And for those who are tearing higher, sometimes I'm wondering, how did they get there?
Why? Why is this so not consistent?
No, it's not.
[00:25:59] Speaker B: So how does me, how does somebody find you for that? Let's say I go in there and I get assessed as a three and my husband's like, oh, no, she's not a three, she's a five, Right?
[00:26:11] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:26:15] Speaker B: How are they going to find you or find someone who's going to advocate for them to know this well enough. Right. Because you're, you're a little known diamond. Right. And I want you to be a big hope diamond.
[00:26:30] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. And so this is, you know what I tell families I can't solve all the Medicaid issues. Of course not. That doesn't keep the lights on for us. But our heart bleeds because we are lovers of people and we are people who fight for justice for those who really deserve it. That's everybody. Whether you have money or no money, whether you have funky family dynamics or whether you did some bad things in life, I don't care. When we arrive on scene, that stuff doesn't matter. What matters is what's happening today and what we need to get to for tomorrow, for your safety and for your life support.
So with that being said is, you know, I, we are available, obviously we're, we're on Social media. We've got a, a large social media platform. We're on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn.
We do public gatherings such as the Power of Partnership.
We have open bed, Oregon. That's a whole nother thing we should talk about in another conversation because not only do we have a problem with these long term care homes, we have a problem. We have an influx. We have almost. We have over 1600 homes here and it's the blind leading the blind. Are they ready for this silver tsunami that's coming?
Are they ready for these boomers? They're not, they're not trained. They don't know how to run a ethical business. You have these homes that are opening and shutting down. You have abuse, you have neglect, you have, oh my goodness. I, the list goes on.
So we're, we're coming to change that part of the industry too. But how people can find us is really online. We're public, we have a website.
We are on social media. I think we're one of the only companies that I'm aware of that's actually socially connected because we think it's important to be connected. We want to be available for those older people who are scrolling or even the younger ones at 35 on Facebook.
We're here. We're here.
[00:28:34] Speaker B: I'd like for you to go over the September 17, the power of partnership. Where is that? How do people learn about it? Is it open to the public? Obviously Bree is going to hook up the policymakers.
[00:28:48] Speaker C: Right.
[00:28:48] Speaker B: Because that's what Bri does.
[00:28:50] Speaker C: We love that. We love to invite mayors, we love to invite county commissioners, we love to invite hospital administration because this is a big, this is such a big issue and I wish. My hope is to see Oregon get it together and listen to people like myself and others that have 33 years of hitting every facet. I've worked at acute care settings. I was in the hospital, I was in Ed Medtelly. I have owned my own spaces for 17 years and received people in there. I have worked for communities and rehabs and SNFs, skilled nursing facilities.
I've done all of it. So I feel like we do, we, we do our community a disservice by not talking to the people who have actually had boots on the ground in the industry matters.
[00:29:46] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:29:46] Speaker C: That's what matters in every area. That gives me goosebumps. In our industries that are suffering from, from, from our, from laws being made created to, you know, our community, our, our, our city. Right. And our counties and then our communities.
It is a huge trickle effect. And what we're doing is we're band aiding everything. That's the other problem is we've band aided so much that, hey, this, this day is coming. Wait till 2027, it's about to get wild.
And so my heart and passion is to talk to, you know, the hospitals and get on the same page and really creating, really creating systems and processes in place to very much manage what's coming. And here's the other thing. I don't get paid for Medicaid. I give out my service. Because you cannot get paid to help anybody on Medicaid. That's a law. I do get paid as a referral.
I get a. We get a percentage of a person's first month when they go into long term care. But laws in Oregon, you can't. So there's no help for anybody in Medicaid because they tie everybody's hands. Yeah, you can't get compensated. And I feel like if they did make it to where there was a way of compensation, we could get everybody on board. Because unfortunately, you guys, not everybody thinks like me, not every stand.
[00:31:17] Speaker A: I understand where that comes from, like the desire for the intent for that legislation, but I think we're not living in a vacuum. And that essentially then restricts people from getting the help that they need. If, if we're not in like a, you know, a Medicare for all situation where, you know, everything is covered and you know, everybody is on the same plan and everybody's getting the same thing, then like maybe you kind of have to help people out.
[00:31:48] Speaker C: Yeah, we have.
[00:31:48] Speaker B: I'm going to go back to the question one more time. I'm sorry. Yeah, I'm not clear on. And I'm sorry, might be my listening years aren't working well. But with the power of partnership, is it going to be at a physical location? Is it going to be online now?
[00:32:04] Speaker C: It'll be a physical location. And so we're determining that location. We have an open bed launch that's happening for Open Bed Oregon that will be in Salem at Offbeat coffee. And about 90 people can show. The last time we had a. The power partnership, we did that there, we had 110 people show. It was amazing. It was a really great gathering. This time for the power of partnership, I am going to have it in Twaliton and we're going to hone. We're going to pencil in the time probably within the next two weeks. I'll get that to you. But that is. And that's. It'll be right off the i5 corridor. And we're going to have it to where we can have up to a hundred and I think it holds up to 150 people.
The goal is to bring all types of leadership in the room. And especially like I said, you know, county commissioners, legislative teams, you know, Mayor, we need people to care, we need people to listen in and, and to see us. I consider us first responders, essentially. That's really what we're doing.
[00:33:14] Speaker A: You are on the front lines of a lot of stuff.
[00:33:17] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, we are very emotional and important things.
[00:33:22] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:33:22] Speaker B: You know, I mean, you're talking about your mom, right? Yeah, we like them most days.
[00:33:28] Speaker C: The way you say that, I just like, I can't believe that. Yeah, we're talking about humanity. This is humans. So it gets me real lit up, you know, when we have these conversations at how broken our system, system is here again and how much greater if we actually got into a room. We need experts on the panels. We need people who actually applying and
[00:33:56] Speaker A: we have those experts, we have those people that know what needs to be done, knows what. The easy fixes, right. The low hanging fruit, the long term fixes.
It is possible, right?
The political, the political will just has to be there and it hasn't.
[00:34:16] Speaker B: Yeah, we want to help with that, right? Yeah, we want to be able to go and say, hey, this person.
Let me, let me introduce you, let me help you. Because it's all made through connections, right. People connecting with other people and hearing the passion and the story behind it is what kind of spreads the goodwill and it spreads the education and the desire for help. Right. When people understand more fully, which is kind of the purpose of what we're doing here, right?
[00:34:48] Speaker C: I think so. I think you're right about that. They understanding more fully. It's the fact that it's, it's, it's in the dark still.
[00:34:54] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:34:55] Speaker C: It's not really openly spoken about and a full picture because you can, if you take a piece of the puzzle, none of it matters then, Right.
[00:35:04] Speaker A: You got to know better to do better.
[00:35:06] Speaker B: And you have to know fully, you know, because I know my mom's situation, but I don't know, you know, the lady next door who is on Medicare or trying to find a Medicare bed or, you know, those are all very, very different.
You had something on your mind, I saw it in your eyes.
[00:35:23] Speaker A: I always have something on my mind. But I, I, we talked about this at the beginning on here on this podcast. We like to give folks a takeaway community call to action.
If, if that is The September event, then that can be, that can be the call to action as well. Or if there's something else that you want to leave listeners with, like this is something you should do or this is something you should know, or this is somebody you should talk to or however, you know, ball in your court.
[00:35:56] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. I, my. I feel like the way I want to close this out is a.
Aging is not shameful and it can be done very well and with the right team.
And it's really a matter of reaching out and asking questions. That is all it is. There's no requirement. And the, the beautiful thing is we are free to talk to. There is no money involved here. In fact, as a placement advisor, I can't take money from you.
So it's, it's free to ask questions.
And I feel like every person, it should be the norm. Every person that is aging out in life And I say 60 moving forward is start asking the questions. What does that look like in my situation if I age out to older ages, 90 and beyond? It's just asking those questions. Being able to see things in clarity, having this information and being set up ahead of time is beautiful. But also being prepared when the emergency does happen.
And so we are a team in your life. I always tell everybody, you either you're. Everybody prepares to buy a house, everybody prepares to get married. Most people. Right. Most people prepare to get married. People prepare for buying a car, but not everybody prepares for those. Not everybody's going to have those things. But everyone is going to age at some point for as long as you have breath in your lungs.
So this is the most important decisions of your life because your last half should be your greatest half.
That first half is hard, has a lot of bumps and bruises, but your last half should be amazing. And I've seen a lot of people age really well.
And so the call to action really is to give us a call. It doesn't cost anything. And we can answer anything aging related and. Or regarding your own home life, family dynamics, your plan for the future.
We're your power partner.
[00:38:20] Speaker B: What would you say is a great way for someone to open the conversation to a family or friend?
[00:38:28] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:38:29] Speaker B: To get them there.
[00:38:30] Speaker C: Yeah.
Usually it's always a. A kid of parents who need help. And what I do is I say, hey, I am not, I am not going to come in professional. Just let mom or dad know I won't be coming with pens and papers and computers.
Literally just ask them if they'd be willing to have a conversation and I will come Sit and be their friend. And I even say, ask if it's okay if I come without you so that they're, they're not on the spot.
So I always advise children of parents, ask if I can come have a conversation.
And you don't have to be there. They need their independence. They need to know that their story is private.
I don't have to share everything with you. They get to talk privately.
That's the biggest key, I think winner. Every single time I get a complex client is that I get to go in, my team gets to go in. And we're your buddy, we're your friend, we're not asking anything from you, whether I place you or not. And you just use me for a plethora of knowledge. That's what I came for.
[00:39:52] Speaker B: That's wonderful. And that's helpful to those, you know, who need to start opening up the conversation and getting prepared. Because what I'm hearing from you is get prepared, get informed, you know, and know that it's going to come, right?
[00:40:06] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah.
[00:40:06] Speaker B: And by being educated, you're putting yourself and your family members in the best possible solution.
[00:40:13] Speaker C: Yes, a hundred percent. And, and you know, the whole, the whole statement, knowledge is power. I say knowledge is sexy, it just is. Having choice is amazing.
I've seen so many, so many stories, you guys, I have hundreds and I've seen it all. There probably isn't anything I haven't seen. And when I see those who actually take the opportunity to make a choice, it's, it's empowering.
[00:40:42] Speaker B: I can see the love and the joy in what you do and how you're talking about it and how your eyes light up and you smile and I love, and you always should do what you love. You know, there's that saying that do what you love in the service of those who love what you do.
And I can tell that that's the work that you do and it shows through. And thank you for doing that because that can be very hard work.
[00:41:03] Speaker C: And it is, it, it is, it's challenging. I think I love the challenge because I, I feel like everybody deserves justice.
Everybody deserves support.
[00:41:15] Speaker B: Right.
[00:41:16] Speaker C: Every human on this globe deserves justice.
Regard of your past, regardless of your circumstances. And I will fight until I'm no longer here for that. So.
[00:41:33] Speaker B: And you'll have planned for that fight too.
[00:41:36] Speaker C: I sure did.
I sure did. I actually have my long term care policy intact. And I have, you know, we've got the irrevocable trust. We got all things. Absolutely. Yeah. You guys have been lovely. I am so grateful that you invited me. This is, this is my passion and I love sharing information with people and if we can help one person, that's who we came for.
[00:42:04] Speaker B: Well, thank you and thank you for the extra time that you've given us. We really are grateful.
[00:42:08] Speaker A: Yeah, we went a little over time, but the conversation was, was really good and we had a ton of really good learning experiences. I think eye opening, I can't speak there for a second.
Really eye opening. And I think actually I don't think that we're going to edit this too too much and potentially maybe two parts because this is really important information for people to have.
[00:42:35] Speaker C: Yeah, I think the Medicaid piece is very important.
How to plan for it and really what to expect and what to know about it. But also I think knowing where we're headed for housing, we need more and we need people that are prepared for what's coming. We're just not prepared.
And there is answers out there. Thirdly, there is answer and there is support and there's probably nobody. I don't know. So whatever it is that people need. And I'm not saying just I, I mean, embrace age prepared knows how to get you there.
[00:43:13] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:43:14] Speaker C: Thank you so much, Jen.
[00:43:16] Speaker A: Thank you for joining us. And I am Bri.
[00:43:20] Speaker B: And I'm Marty. And this is Housing Voices.
[00:43:23] Speaker C: I love that.
[00:43:24] Speaker B: Bye.
Thank you.
[00:43:27] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:43:27] Speaker C: Bye, Jen. Bye.
Bye, all you good people. Helping Solutions meet.
[00:43:34] Speaker D: A special thanks to our partners Marty Fulfillment and Cyanette.net for supporting thoughtful dialogue around housing in our communities.
Music for Housing Voices is provided by Karen DeWolf and Adrian Kriz. Thank you for helping us set the tone.
You can find
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Until next time, this is Brie. Let's keep listening, keep learning and keep building practical housing solutions together.
