Join The Movement

About six months ago, I did what I tend to do when something feels both impossible and necessary: I decided to do it anyway. That “it” was launching the first National Walk for Long-Term Care Reform. It’s also why it’s been a minute since I last wrote. Some might call it lofty. Some might call it slightly unhinged. Both would be fair. ​For the past six months, I have poured almost every waking moment into bringing this Walk to life. I put all my development projects on ice, took rain checks on all social invites and somewhere along the way, five hours of sleep stopped feeling insufficient and started feeling luxurious. I wish that were hyperbole. ​​August 13, exactly 45 days before the Walk, an extraordinary gift landed in my inbox. The best kind of gift. The kind I can share... Dr. Eilon Caspi, an award-winning gerontologist, researcher, dementia behavior specialist, and leader of our Connecticut Walk, sent me an extraordinary gift: a meticulously researched, 42-page special report documenting 31 reasons why participation in the National Walk for Long-Term Care Reform is so urgently needed. The idea is to bring residents, families, caregivers, advocates, Ombudsmen, healthcare professionals, and concerned citizens into public spaces across the country on the same day - September 27 - to shine a light on a long-term care system whose failures have remained hidden behind closed doors for far too long. ​And from the beginning, I have been hell-bent on having a Walk in every state. Why? Because the long-term care crisis does not stop at state lines. It is not a local or regional problem; it is an American crisis that affects every community and every generation. If the crisis reaches all 50 states, then our call for reform should, too. At its heart, this is about dignity, safety, accountability, and the fundamental value of every human life. It is about taking a conversation that has largely remained inside the long-term care “bubble” and bringing it to the public… because lasting reform will require more than the people who already know talking to one another. ​Most of us don’t want to think about nursing homes or long-term care until we absolutely have to. I certainly didn’t. But by the time the issue becomes personal, families are often already in crisis, trying to navigate a system they know nothing about while fighting to protect someone they love. The Walk is an effort to change that. ​What began as one very lofty idea is now taking shape in communities across the country, led by extraordinary people who have turned their own experiences, heartbreak, expertise, and determination into action. As we inch closer to the day of the Walk, I’ve been wracking my brain over one question: What else can I possibly say that I haven’t already said? How many different ways can I explain why this matters? How do I reach beyond the people who already know? How do I help the public understand the magnitude of what has been happening behind the walls of long-term care for decades and why this moment demands all of us?​ Then  - like the universe does - a gift from Dr. Caspi arrived exactly when I needed it most. All the pertinent information... all the compelling, irrefutable reasons: Why Your Participation in the 1st National Walk for Long-Term Care Reform is Urgently needed.