When I wake up at 6:30 a.m. each morning, I don’t have time to think about the pain in my neck and shoulders. Before most people have had their first cup of coffee, I’ve already gotten my children ready for school and started the hour-long drive to for a long day of caregiving. Along the way, I’m mentally running through my clients’ medications, dialysis treatments, meals, groceries, and whether I have enough gas in my car to make it through the week.

I’m a home care worker. I care for seniors who need support to age with dignity at home. And the primary senior I care for is my aging father.

Every day, I care for my father as he battles cancer, kidney failure, and diabetes. I cook his meals, clean his home, help with his hygiene needs, and take him to dialysis and chemotherapy appointments. By the time I get home, I’m helping my youngest get to her extracurricular activities before cooking dinner and taking care of the household.

From the moment I open my eyes to the moment I go to sleep, I am working, because you can’t clock out of caregiving.

But despite the long hours and the physical toll this work takes on my body, I can barely make ends meet.

On average I make $400 each week. As grocery prices continue to rise, I rely on coupons and make every meal at home, which only adds to my workload. I constantly worry about credit card debt, and some weeks I wonder whether I can afford enough gas to make it to my father’s home. If I can’t get there, he loses the care he depends on, and I lose the income I rely on.

My story is not unique. Across Illinois, care workers are struggling to survive while the services families depend on — from at-home care to childcare to community hospitals — are pushed to the breaking point.

That’s why lawmakers must step up during this year’s budget negotiations and invest in care workers. Illinois has the resources to strengthen care services and pass a desperately needed $2-per-hour wage increase for home care workers. The question is whether lawmakers are willing to prioritize working families over wealthy corporations.

Right now, mega-corporations and billionaires are dodging $4 billion per year in Illinois taxes, while working families shoulder the consequences. That lost revenue could help stabilize care services, support seniors and people with disabilities, and make it easier for families like mine to get by.

Instead, corporations exploit loopholes while care workers are pushed to the brink.

I know firsthand what it’s like when people with more money and power take advantage of you. Recently, my landlord raised our rent by $800 a month simply because he could. I had no choice but to move my family farther away from my children’s school and community. Even after moving, my rent is still $400 more each month than what I used to pay.

As a mother, those changes stay with you emotionally. I felt guilty when I could no longer afford enough gas to drive my children to school every day. I felt heartbroken knowing I couldn’t always give my kids the small joys other families can provide, like Christmas presents.

While the rich get richer, these are the kind of struggles care workers like me face.

The work itself is already emotionally exhausting. Watching my father’s health decline is incredibly painful. Low wages only add more stress to an already difficult job. Even when I help cover shifts and support the clients of several other care workers, it’s still a struggle financially.

At the same time workers are leaving this field, the need for caregivers in Illinois is rapidly growing. Within six years, our state will need more than a quarter million more long-term care jobs to keep up with our aging population. By 2035, nearly 2.9 million Illinoisans will be over the age of 65.

As a single mom, I couldn’t afford childcare when my children were younger. Now that they’re older, I still can’t afford outside care for my father, leaving me unable to pursue a higher-paying job. Like so many care workers, I feel stuck—trying to balance caregiving, parenting, and survival.

A $2-per-hour raise would make things easier, relieve some financial pressure and help care workers like me continue doing this important work.

Illinois lawmakers have a choice to make. They can continue allowing wealthy corporations and billionaires to game the system while care workers struggle, or they can invest in the people who hold families and communities together.

Home care workers are the backbone of care in Illinois. We show up for families every single day. It’s time for lawmakers to show up for us.

Arely Alvarez is a home healthcare worker in Chicago.