Project CARE takes up a distinctly minor piece of the state budget puzzle, but it's called a major life-saver by people who use it to receive a break from the grueling task of looking after family members with dementia.

For those consumed by round-the-clock care for a parent or spouse with severe cognitive problems, employees paid for by CARE provide precious hours for shopping, running errands or simply recuperating. The state-run, nationally recognized program also connects caregivers with the current thinking about how they also need to care for themselves.

Many caregivers face multiple whammies: responsibility for both a parent and a child, the deep health impacts caused by caregiving itself, the need to make a living, and overloads of stress and guilt.

Project CARE, for "caregiver alternatives to running on empty," cost North Carolina roughly $600,000 in the past fiscal year — about one in every $3,000 dollars in a planned state budget of $1.9 billion.

At a time when virtually every part of state government is facing cuts, Gov. Beverly Perdue has asked for $500,000 in new and recurring annual funding for this public and nonprofit collaboration. Project CARE has run largely on federal grants since its founding in 2001, but it will likely get continuing help from the U.S. Administration on Aging only if the state commits its own money. (N&O)