Trish Hughes Kreis, contributor to Caring.com
Trish Hughes Kreis is a freelance writer and full-time Legal Administrator who advocates on behalf of her disabled youngest brother, Robert, in order to keep him as healthy and happy as possible. Robert has lived with intractable epilepsy his entire life and now lives with Trish and her husband.
Trish's advocacy work includes testifying at a California Senate Committee in favor of AB 2039 which would have expanded the definition of family to include sibling care under the California Family Rights Act. Trish has also participated in a televised interview on working caregivers produced by AARP for their PBS program, Inside E Street and was a guest on the Huffington Post Live program, "Take Good Care."
Trish has been interviewed by US News and World Report regarding managing life as a working caregiver and has participated in several other interviews focused on the working caregiver.
Trish is the author of her first caregiving book, Forever a Caregiver, and was recently included in the Caregiver's Survival Network list of Top Ten Online Caregiver Advocates. She can be reached through her blog www.robertssister.com.
WHY I CARE
"When I took over the care of my youngest brother, I quickly realized I wanted to also help others navigate the difficult road of caregiving. Navigating the maze of social services and government programs available to help Robert was a learning experience and I realized I could help others find appropriate resources through my own research and experience.
As a working caregiver, I realized we have our own, unique challenges and I have focused on the issues faced by that growing caregiver population.
It is also very important to me to help Robert fulfill what he has told me is his life purpose. He is a man of great faith and believes his purpose is to spread awareness and education about epilepsy. I want to do what I can to help him fulfill that purpose and found that writing about epilepsy, caregiving and resources for both soon became my own passion and purpose."