BUFFALO, N.Y. — Western New York advocates are trying to spark a statewide campaign to rise up and fight for fair wages for direct care professionals.

BJ Stasio started the Rise Up campaign and is asking for people to write a personalized letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul about how the wage crisis that caregivers face has affected them.

“I know it’s very frightening to tell your story when you have so many thoughts in your head. It’s very hard to put it together,” said Stasio. “It doesn’t have to be a long War and Peace novel [saying] ‘I’m not happy.’ We’re all not happy but we need to rise up together and fix this.”

According to a recent survey conducted by New York Disability Advocates, 25% of all DSP positions are currently vacant statewide. Those vacancies have forced Stasio to sleep in his wheelchair for the past two years, an issue he brought up during testimony in front of the NYS Senate in September.

According to the same study, the average statewide starting wage for a residential direct care worker is $14.56, in comparison to the statewide fast-food minimum wage of $15; an issue another local advocate, Michael Rogers, is facing.

“I have one staff [member] that has been with me for 13 years at a very low pay, as I would consider it, and she has been loyal and that’s the only reason she’s still here. I get help with cooking, I get help with food prep, I get help with bathing, dressing, I get help with all aspects of personal care,” said Rogers.

Stasio said he hopes to have 10,000 letters he can hand deliver to Gov. Hochul by the end of the year.