say, i cannot imagine myself as a homecare worker provider without my union. us, has has lifted lifted women of color, has lifted working women so that they can rise up and have dignity and respect. collective-bargaining, it is able to give us better wages and more benefits, but that is not all. you know what my union has done? us byon has lifted all of ensuring that we have a seat at the table. not as a bystander. not as an observer. but somebody who has a voice and can speak up in front of the decision-making. we are a people. voiceion has provided a to the voiceless. it has provided a face to the faceless. our union is the embodiment of what -- putting into practice that this is supposed to be a government for the people. brett kavanaugh is a threat to women's rights. a threat to labor's rights. a threat to immigrants rights. a threat to our union. therefore, for and on behalf of of colored women, for and on behalf of women rising up and ready to fight, for and on , -- onof of workers behalf of workers, i've inherently opposed and we women unitedly disagree

so that people with disabilities have no option for homecare right now. and a maximum that our providers are paid is only $14 an hour so it's extremely hard to get providers to come help us in the home. on top of that there is the issue of curb cuts and basic access in restaurants and businesses where we might have an access to the front door but we cannot access the bathroom or get to the basic areas and just recently i have been yelled at by business owners just for being in a wheelchair in their business because they don't want me there. and they don't want me asking for anything. so i bring this to your attention with the hope that this can be addressed. i have brought some of these issues to mofd's staff at last month's meeting and i hope for some follow-up and investigation into these crucial issues. thank you for your time. >> co-chair sehaux: thank you, zack. we're going to -- any other public comment at this time? >> no. >> co-chair sehaux: okay, thank you. we'll go ahead and close public comment and go to information item number 4 which is the c

[applause] >> i want to introduce to the stage a homecare worker.ause] >> i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america. and to the republic for which it stands. a republic that has been built through the sacrifices of the lives and blood of our forefathers. a republic that has been built on democratic value. on the core value of governance. that this is supposed to be a government of the people. by the people. and for the people. and that is the reason why i am here. i flew from san diego to washington, d.c. because i am a people. and i deserve my voice to be heard. one nation, under god, indivisible. this nation is supposed to be united. undivided. but a person like brett kavanaugh is dividing all of us. dividing the poor. favoring the rich. dividing the workers. favoring the employers. dividing us by favoring corporate interest. than labor rights. with liberty and justice for all. how can there be liberty if we cannot stand up and put our voice there? and how can there be justice if a person like brett kavanaugh is tilting the s

is a state-m nded pilot pr develop baseline training for homecare workers. the goal is to attract and retain more people. last yeathe industry had a median turnover rate of 67%. >> we're constantly looking for ways to retain our staff. >> reporter: participant alyssa lawrence thinks more training could lead to higher job sasfaction among her employees. >> we're trying to break that stigma you're just aome health aide so this way we're we're looking at trying to better educate them better train them and hopefully retain our staff a lot better. >> reporter: but here's thle pr more training in no way guarantees higher pay. >> i was gobsmacked on how little they pay for this! >> reporter: after wendy martin lost her automotive job she decided to run a home care agency with her mom. if your workforce is better qualified because they've gotten the training that you're learning how to give, are theygo g to earn more money? >> probably not. >> reporter: the reasostfor that is ong-term home care is paid for through medicaid. >> the financing system is aha tremendouse

but i always say i cannot imagine myself as a homecare worker provider without my union. the union has lifted us, have lifted women of color, have lifted working women so that we can rise up and have dignity and respect. [applause] our unions through collective bargaining is able to at least give us better wages and a little bit more of benefits, but that is not all. you know what my union has done? my union has lifted all of us by leaps and bounds by ensuring that we have a seat at the table. not as a bystander. not as an observer, but somebody who has a voice that can speak up in front of that decision-making. because we are a people. our union has provided a voice for the voiceless, has provided a face with a faceless. and our union is an embodiment of what we say and putting into practice that this is supposed to be a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. [applause] and that brett kavanaugh is a great threat to women's rights, a great threat to laborers rights, a great threat to immigrants rights come a great threat to workers' rights, a great t