WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Andy Kim(D-NJ) announced that his guest for tomorrow’s State of the Union Address will be Cathy Rowe, caregiving advocate and Executive Director of New Jersey Advocates for Aging Well (NJAAW), an organization that advocates for New Jersey seniors and provides resources for caregivers.
“We are facing a caregiving crisis in our country. There’s too much red tape, too high of costs, and an ever-increasing burden placed on those who those who just want to provide care. This is why we need national movement to support our caregivers and the critical work they do every day,” said Senator Kim. “Cathy is on the frontlines of the caregiving crisis and is bringing solutions to those who need it. Every day she works with seniors and caregivers that are struggling to do too much with too little. It’s important that my colleagues in Congress, and the President, see her in the chamber and the millions of New Jerseyans and Americans she represents who need strong action to help our caregivers.”
A member of the “sandwich generation,” Senator Kim announced his caregiving journey last year after his father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s while raising his two young boys. Ms. Rowe reached out to offer her support shortly after that announcement, and his office has worked with NJAAW to identify ways to help better deliver assistance to caregivers and those they care for.
“The senator’s video about his father’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis really resonated with me – as someone who works in the aging field, I was caught off guard by my mother’s own diagnosis. I completely missed it. But fortunately, I knew where to go for help and yet I still struggled with all of that – I can’t understand how people not familiar or working in this space can navigate it all,” said Cathy Rowe, Executive Director of New Jersey Advocates for Aging Well. “Aging is one of the few things that we all have in common, and the caregiving generation is feeling the squeeze. So we need an all-hands-on-deck approach that includes more professional caregivers, and more companies giving caregiver benefits and coverage.”
Senator Kim is a member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation; the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP); the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; and the Special Committee on Aging. Before being elected to the U.S. Senate, Kim represented New Jersey’s Third Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives and was a career public servant working in national security and diplomacy at the White House, State Department, and Pentagon.
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