New this morning, President Joe
Biden wants to make child care
and Home Care Services cheaper.
The executive order gives dozens
of directives to agencies in
order to improve transparency
and access to Home Care Service,
while also expanding areas of coverage.
President Biden calls the issue
fundamental to who we are as a nation.
Caregiving has also been part of former
President Jimmy Carter and formr
First Lady Rosalynn Carter's journey.
Now, as Mr.
Carter receives home Hospice ca,
it marks a new chapter in their
caregiving journey together.
I sat down one-on-one with the O
of the Rosalind Carter Institutr
caregivers to talk about their decades
of work on this issue and how they're
changing the conversation around care
in the small town of America's,
only 10 miles down the road
from the famous hometown of
Jimmy and Rosalind Carter.
It's an organization named
after the former first lady.
Its mission is to help a
population close to Mrs.
Carter's heart. You
know, I say our job is not
to make caregiving easy.
Our job is to make caregiving less hard.
Dr. Jennifer Olson is the CEO oe
Rosalind Carter Institute for Caregivers.
She says both the Carters have n
intimately involved since the dy
she interviewed for the job in .
The first thing that struck me was Mrs.
Carter came to the door with my resume in
her hand with highlights and notes on it,
and President Carter came
into the room and said, yeah,
shouldn't you go work at the Carter Center?
And I then took that as my
opportunity to convince both.
Of them and make the case that
caregiving is a public health i.
The institute was created in 19,
but the seed to help was planted
more than 20 years earlier when.
Carter was running for governor.
And Mrs. Carter kept getting the
same question about mental heal.
But what's the president going to do?
What's the president going to d?
So she decided to get herself into the line,
the meet and greet line for the president.
Reach out to shake his hand and ask him
what he's going to do about mental health.
Well, he reached by my hand before he looked,
before he knew who I was.
And he said, what are you doing here?
And I said, I want to know what
you're going to do for people
with mental illnesses when you'e
governor of Georgia. Reportedly.
Didn't he say something like,
I'm going to put you in charge of. That's
right. That's right. And
he did. From the governor's
mansion to the White House, Mrs.
Carter led commissions,
testified before the Senate
and wrote books on the issue
while his wife provided the
face and voice for the mission.
We've heard about
the lack of adequate service or
the wrong kinds of services.
The former president became a quiet ally,
relishing the role of supportive husband.
To tackle the issue together,
President Carter donated part of
his Nobel Prize winnings to the
Institute back 20 years ago. So I mean,
this hasn't just been a recent effort,
it's been a longstanding level of support.
For 36 years, the Rosalind Cartr
Institute has been a quiet disruptor,
influencing policy, forging partnerships,
and doling out resources to thoe
who need it most. Her vision
of a more caring society.
Do you think we're there yet? Slowly.
Our website is most popular in
the late night hours or the eary
morning hours, when a caregivers
reaching their crisis point. Abt
133 billion Americans.
Nearly half the population suffs
from at least one chronic illne.
That's 15 million higher than a decade ago,
forcing one in five adults into
an active caregiving role.
And we know caregivers experien.
Especially mental health challenges at
higher rates than their non caregiving peers,
even in their 90s. As Mrs.
Carter steps into a
caregiving role once again,
Doctor Olson says the Carters are still
intimately involved in the institute.
Their next big goal is to creatn
office of the caregiver inside e
Department of Health and Human Services.
Right now there are very few, if any,
federal employees who even havee
word caregiver in their job tit.
That just doesn't make sense to us. Sometimes
the obvious thing is where the
Carters thrive, turning common e
humanity into a lifelong mission
and a legacy to be continued. I
think there's just a commitmento
whatever cause they have put thr
name to for it to move forward,
and you as a participant in that just
feel like you've got to keep it going.
A few months ago, the institute
launched a new initiative
called the Four Kinds Network.
It mobilizes former caregivers
to advocate and help others,
something they hope
creates meaningful change.