Dear Vincentian Community and Family,
Imagine you are turning 65 years old today. What if I told you there is a 70% chance you will need some type of long-term care services and support in your remaining years of life? And…you have a 20% chance that you will need this care for longer than 5 years.
For most, it is hard to imagine needing long-term care. None of us desire a future of depending on others for daily living activities, yet many will require this care because of the randomness of how our lives unfold.
It can become necessary at a younger age than expected and more common as we live longer, resulting in hard-working people finding themselves in a position where they either cannot afford skilled nursing care at all or run out of money when they still have years of living ahead of them.
We are existing in a time when nursing homes and skilled care facilities are closing at record rates, mostly due to gross underfunding by the government and the inability of people to personally afford this type of care. These closures have a devastating impact on residents, their families, and staff. Vulnerable seniors are left uprooted from their communities, often without anywhere else to go.
At Vincentian, we pride ourselves on providing high-quality, compassionate care to every person that lives in our homes. At a time when other facilities are closing to preserve their bottom line, we are reaffirming our commitment to seniors in Pittsburgh by helping to ensure residents who have exhausted their financial resources through circumstances beyond their control continue to receive our care.
It is not easy, and we need your help now more than ever.
Our nearly century-long history of caring for Pittsburgh’s most vulnerable populations, coupled with the steadfast belief in our mission to provide compassionate care that preserves the human dignity of persons, will not allow us to give up on our beloved seniors.
We are not running away from this fight—we are sprinting towards it, head-on. Will you join us by making a gift today?
Yours in compassion,
Laurie Cannella, NHA, BSN
Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President of Clinical Excellence