Assisted Living Communities Plea for Help to Fight COVID-19

Assisted living communities are pleading for financial aid in combating COVID-19, with Virginia-based Sunrise Senior Living organizing a national letter-writing campaign to solicit federal funding, reports WTHR-TV . The campaign is asking residents, staffers, family members, and regular citizens to reach out to Congress and request money to protect seniors and those who staff the nation's assisted living communities. "When you speak of nursing homes and funding, assisted living should be part of that conversation," said Sunrise's Chandra Stradling. Sunrise has deployed measures like in-room-only dining, staff temperature screening, and social distancing, but fighting the coronavirus is an enormous and costly challenge. "We just feel as if assisted living maybe has gone unnoticed and we'd really like to be seen. We take care of the same vulnerable populations that nursing homes do," Stradling notes. Assisted living communities, unlike nursing homes, have not received federal aid for COVID-19 countermeasures. The letter-writing campaign requests funding for gowns and masks, virus testing, and financial support for staff.