Last year, I wrote about an old friend from high school who was dying from colon cancer and needed a place to live. Many of her old friends tried to help, but the biggest problem was that she and her grown daughter didn’t have the basics to rent an apartment: No bank account, no credit rating. Etc. Several of the places they applied for were scams — just took their money.
She was in the hospital for a while, but they kept kicking her out. Lately, she’s been in a nursing home that is as bad as anything you’ve ever heard: Out of meds, not enough food, not enough nurses, leaving people to sit in their own filth for a day at a time. Roommates who scream in pain all night. Just a horror show. Her daughter would come in and change her bed because no one who worked there would do it.
Well, as of today, she and her daughter have a lease on an apartment in West Philly. It’s a basement apartment (which she keeps bitching about — I never said she was pleasant) and she can finally leave that hellhole. Her daughter plans to apply to a home healthcare agency where she will get paid to take care of her mom and maybe get her hospice care. (They don’t have many freestanding hospices anymore, and they’re only affordable if you’re rich.)
I felt really depressed and helpless for a long time because I couldn’t do anything about it, but thanks to her daughter’s persistence, life will get better. Nice to see something work out for a change! Now she needs furniture, which should be a lot easier to get.
If anyone wants to help, you can send donations to me and earmark it for Kathy.
