Bring Beth and Ruth Home

My name is Miriam. My brother and I grew up with our sisters, Beth and Ruth Sutter, as part of a Mennonite family in Indiana. Beth and Ruth have always been close and they live together in Philadelphia. They need help in getting back into their house.

Let me tell you why.

While Beth has experienced pain throughout her life starting in early childhood, her first serious trouble was when she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in high school. Some of the time since then she has been in remission, sufficient even for her to obtain a degree in occupational therapy, but for the last thirty years she has been disabled and unable to work in her chosen field or any other, due to her RA, congenital spinal stenosis, and other maladies. She hasn't been able to get out of bed for fifteen years.

She was devastated by her inability to work and wondered how she could be of use in this world with its many needs. She realized that her physical state does not keep her from praying and this has become her vocation in the decades since she’s been unable to earn a living.

Years ago, Beth and Ruth bought a house so that they could live together and so that Ruth could help Beth. Beth qualified for a caregiver, and after a series of caregivers who provided less than optimal care, Ruth decided to become Beth’s paid caregiver, expanding the unofficial role she had fulfilled which now extended far beyond the hours for which she was compensated.

Beth’s medical costs are astronomical. Her entire income – and Social Security is all she has – is spent on her medical costs. In addition to her Social Security, she needs another $300 per month just to cover her medical expenses. She could not save anything for retirement or to stretch her Social Security benefit.

Ruth can make a dollar go farther than anyone I know but her no-benefits, below-living-wage caregiver job isn’t enough for them to be able to maintain their 100-year-old-plus house as they would have liked to or as it needed. Ruth used to be able to work for bookkeeping clients, but as Beth’s health continued to decline, she’s needed to spend most of her energy taking care of Beth, further limiting Ruth’s income. It’s hard for Beth even to get to medical providers.

With Beth needing cataract surgeries a year ago, they left their home to stay in an extended-stay hotel so that Beth’s surgeries and follow-up could be done at less physical cost to her body. While there they realized they should be getting work done on some of the extensive repairs needed in their house, since Beth wouldn’t be in her room. Their roof leaks and needs to be replaced, walls are crumbling inside and out, rooms need to be repaired and floors replaced from water damage, kitchen stove and refrigerator are broken: then the water heater conked out, leaving them with a $3000 water bill before they discovered the broken heater and a flooded cellar.

They are caught between not having the money to get the repairs done and spending a lot at the extended-stay hotel because they can’t be at home.

On top of all of this, Beth has developed liver disease due to the long-time use of medications and needs to visit a specialist which means $1000 out-of-pocket ambulance trips to get to the hospital.

Many friends and family members including me have helped Beth over the years. Their church helps a lot with Beth’s medical expenses but there is no way that the congregation’s budget could cover these extensive and essential repairs that need to be done.

Today they need a boost from some of their close-by and far-flung friends, relatives and others that see this appeal so that the house they left in Philadelphia can be repaired and renovated and turned back into a comfortable, accessible home where they can once again live.

All donations will go to Beth and Ruth. Please help get them back to their home in their beloved Germantown!