If 200 people stand on a street corner …
… and demonstrate for healthcare, but nobody from the media comes, do they still make noise?
You bet.
Seniors for Health Care drew people of all ages to Pack Square in downtown Asheville today. No one from the paper or the TV station were there, but we were at the busiest intersection in town and many hundreds of people saw us there.
We had a lot of thumbs-up, and just two nasty comments. One man rolled down the window of his shiny new Mercedes SUV and hollered that government-run health care would kill us.
I usually don’t engage, but I hollered, “Corporate-run health care already killed my son!” I don’t think he heard me, though. He rolled his window up and went back into his own selfish, soundproofed, truth-deprived, I-got-mine-get-your-own world.
Another woman hollered that our taxes would go up if health care is approved. Well, if that were true, and it isn’t unless you make more than $250,000 a year, I think that’s OK if we can save those 45,000 lives lost every year to not having insurance.
Of course a lot of my activist friends were there — people from the bus trip and others I run into at every rally.
Word came while we were there that The Associated Press was reporting the Democrats have their 60 votes. So, at least we’ll have a debate.
Patient Pals & Family Friends
Life o' Mike has a peer support program for people with one or more serious or chronic medical issues or disabilities.
We aim to reduce isolation and fear among people who have conditions, including psychiatric illness, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, mild dementia or other cognitive disorder or disability, thereby reducing depression and complications as people learn to improve self-management of their medical conditions.
Patient Pals help alleviate feelings of isolation and frustration. They can help people develop a list of questions to ask the doctor and then accompany the person to the doctor to make sure all the questions are answered, taking notes to be sure the person understands the doctor’s answers.
Our trained volunteers also accompany their “Pals” to art exhibits, movies and walks outdoors, meet for coffee, call to check in and more.
Our Pals have experienced weight loss, improvement in diabetes, HIV, psoriasis, depression and more, just because they have someone who cares about them. Some relationships develop into longer-term friendships; other Pals move on to more independent lives.
Family Friends are there to help caregivers and other family members grow into their new role.
We need volunteers, who are asked to donate a minimum of one hour a week. Training is free and includes information on active listening, ways to help and when to know more help is needed.
And of course, we need funding.
To learn more, call Leslie Boyd at 828-243-6712 or e-mail lifeomike@gmail.com.
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