NEVADA VIEWS: Aging with grace, dignity

Serena Guimarey, a Las Vegas resident who cares for her Vietnam‑war veteran father, describes the obstacles aging veterans encounter when navigating the VA system and calls for passage of the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act. Guimarey’s father served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and returned home carrying more than memories; exposure to Agent Orange left him with cancer, dementia, diabetes, hearing loss and neuropathy. She became his caregiver when she welcomed him into their Las Vegas home, providing round‑the‑clock assistance while raising four children. She notes that dignity is not automatic for aging veterans; it depends on an individualized care plan between the veteran and a health‑attention strategy that grows more tangled each year. Securing even a single pair of therapeutic shoes for her father took months, illustrating the bureaucratic walls many veterans hit when they try to navigate the system alone. According to Guimarey, an estimated 14.3 million Americans provide home care for wounded, sick or injured veterans, and more than 200,000 veterans reside in Nevada, many of them aging like her father. As a Dole caregiver chap with the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, she sees those needs up close. Congress is being urged to enact the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act, which gathers more than 60 long‑stalled bipartisan bills into a single way forward. Several provisions would affect her family directly. The Veteran Caregiver Re‑education, Re‑employment, and Retirement Act—the “3Rs”—would help caregivers rebuild careers and savings through education, job training, placement assistance and stronger retirement security. The act would also set standards for treating veterans close to home, preventing long trips for care that is available locally, and would require the VA to modernize appointment scheduling so families are not left waiting in a system that should revolve around the patient. Other provisions, such as the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act, would strengthen support for the most catastrophically injured veterans and deliver the first meaningful increase in over 30 years for surviving spouses and children. While her family does not need that bill, she says many vulnerable Nevada families do. Guimarey reflects that having her father under their roof has deepened family bonds; her children spend more time with their grandfather and learn the value of caring for one another regardless of age or circumstance. She calls that the greatest reward, but adds it would be easier if veterans and families like hers received the support they have earned. Lawmakers have repeatedly stalled the vote, and each delay is another day Nevada’s veterans, caregivers and survivors wait for help. She urges every legislator and the delegates Nevada sends to Washington to pass the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act so those who gave so much can age at home with dignity and never alone—not because it is simple, but because it is owed. Serena Guimarey lives in Las Vegas with her four children, serves as a chapter mentor for fellow military and veteran caregivers and is active with the VA Caregiver Support Program.