Caregiver Spotlight: Melony Z.

NY CDPAP Personal Assistant

Caregiving is hard work. Melony Z., a personal assistant for her mother who lives in the Bronx, appreciates that the New York Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) recognizes that. Although the care she lovingly provides would be given regardless, getting paid for her work is empowering.

“It’s like ‘wow, somebody recognizes it’,” said Melony of the care she provides for her mother who is also named Melony. She’s needed help ever since chemotherapy treatments left her with severe agoraphobia, anxiety, and poor balance. “I cook for her, help her with getting into the shower, do her laundry, all the things she can’t do.”

She learned about CDPAP through her mother’s doctor. “He said, ‘your daughter’s been doing all this for you for years, did you know she can get paid?’” explained Melony, who has been with the program for approximately 18 months and plans to continue. She and her mom are among the hundreds of thousands of PAs and consumers now working with PPL as the statewide fiscal intermediary for CDPAP.

Along with affirming the value of her work, CDPAP also “makes things easier financially,” Melony said. The program frees her from having to juggle her mother’s care while simultaneously holding down an outside job. “It helps out so much,” she said.