‘Homeless twice,’ without investment in care, it could happen again, says LA County caregiver

“I’ve been a caregiver for 12 years, it has not been an easy journey but I truly believe in my heart that any human being should have quality of life, and this is why I chose to do this kind of work,” said Maria Torres, a long-time In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) provider in Los Angeles County.

Torres never imagined that she would become a caregiver, or care worker. For years, she managed restaurants but when her relationship ended, everything changed. Overnight, she became a single mother of four and for the first time, she became homeless. Living in her car with her children, she took the caregiving job out of sheer necessity, determined to do whatever it took to keep her family safe.

At first she started working with children with special needs. “They gave me the opportunity to work a couple of hours here and there to at least bring some food on the table, and I took that opportunity and I really enjoyed what I did, caring for another human being and I made it my career,” Torres said.

From working with children with special needs she then transitioned to working with seniors and individuals with disabilities. She shared that seeing people who couldn’t even make themselves a simple sandwich broke her heart but it also reminded her why she chose to stay in this line of work. “Helping them, even in small ways, means they can still have dignity and a better quality of life,” she said.

Torres cares for people facing some of life’s hardest challenges such as those living with dementia, recovering from strokes or heart attacks, using wheelchairs, or relying on feeding tubes. Her days are filled with small but powerful moments of care – helping someone shower, brushing their hair – everyday acts that support a person’s most basic human needs. “I really like to take care of the people that I work with as if they were my own parents. I always say, and I have guided different caregivers and my own kids, to treat people with respect as you would like to be treated,” she said.

Torres gives everything she has to her work yet she and thousands of other caregivers remain underpaid and undervalued. “I work seven days a week in order for me to pay my bills. I have no life. As a caregiver myself, I don't have a quality of life,” she said. 

Her story is just one of many full-time caregivers who dedicate their lives to others while facing housing instability and even homelessness themselves. Torres lives paycheck to paycheck, sacrificing her own stability and dreams so that others can live with dignity. However she works in a system that continues to overlook the people who are oftentimes the backbone of our communities. As the county’s largest low-wage workforce, 69% of IHSS workers report struggling to pay rent, 64% rely on food assistance and 37% depend on public housing and medical programs to survive, according to the SEIU Local 2015 organization.

As an active member within SEIU 2015, Torres is part of the 241,000 workers caregivers fighting for better working conditions and wages. In the last nine months she has been actively involved in the bargaining team and just recently secured a tentative new contract agreement with increased wages of $19.64 per hour. 

“Month after month going to the board of supervisors, sitting on the table with the housing authority to come up with 74 cents. We're never going to say no to the 74 cents, but they did not do anything higher than that.They did not want to do anything higher, they actually wanted it to go lower, lower,” Torres said. This new one-year contract, as is currently written, is in the process of being ratified by L.A. IHSS workers.

“This victory belongs to every caregiver who showed up week after week to make their voices heard,” said Carmen Roberts, Executive Vice President of SEIU 2015. “This contract is a first step. We will be back at the table in a year to continue fighting for the wages, benefits, and respect that caregivers deserve.”

Although a deal has been reached, the contract has yet to be finalized. Still, Torres remains hopeful that the agreement will be officially approved by the end of October, with new wages set to take effect by January 2026. This victory is a vital step toward lifting caregivers out of poverty and confronting the crisis that has long gone unaddressed. 

“We are hoping that the hard work that we do is seen,” Torres said. “There’s a lot of activists that are out there that have created a path so when they are no longer here another captain will come in and continue the journey and fight for caregivers for a better future.”