Help bring Mom Home

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Mom’s Story

I have set up this GoFundMe to get my mother a lawyer. I hope and pray that someone out there can help me. Any donation, no matter how big or small helps. My 70 year old mother, Sonia Maldonado was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2017. As a teenager and beyond my mother feared going to a nursing home. So did not appoint anyone as power of attorney. In 2019, when I had hardship and medical issues, I had to put mom in a nursing home because of my situation> I had breast cancer and I was homeless at the time. Given the circumstances, my mother was better off in a nursing home. Once I got my life together, I was able to bring her home. I prefer to keep mom at home. Yes, I have had to hire aides because I need the help, caring for an Alzheimer’s patient is hard and a lot of work.

Last year I hired an aide to care for my mother. She seemed nice in the beginning. Eventually she started asking me for money. The first time she told me that it was for a car rental to take my mother out. I gave it to her out of good faith. After that, she kept asking me for more money. In fact, she was even trying to extort me for money. I finally found out that she was trying to scam me and told her no. Then she started stealing from my mother. She stole jewelry, my mother’s ATM card, cash out of my mother’s wallet, her Social Security card, birth certificate and even her social security check. She also walked off the job and stayed clocked in, as well as clocked in when she was not working.

Eventually, I caught her stealing from my mother’s purse. I then decided to fire her, as well as report her to the home care agency. I also filed charges against her with the police. She was arrested and is out on bail facing charges against her. As a result, she wanted revenge against me, and called Adult Protective Services. She filed a false report, replete with lies, telling them that I am a hard-core drug addict and that my mother was being abuse and neglected by me. That I left her alone for days without food or water for days, while I went out selling my body and getting high on drugs. That I took her monthly checks to buy drugs.

On the contrary, I always took great care of my mother, and always made sure her needs were met. I would use part of her monthly check to pay the rent. Then I would give her cash to spend on herself. As for being a drug addict, I have never used any drugs in my life. However, I am not rich, I am middle class. I work and hold a job in order to earn money to provide for my family. I have to make sure that the bills are paid, and there is food in the fridge. Most importantly, that the rent is paid and we have a roof over our heads.

For a while, we were left without an aide to help care for my mother. This was due to the home care agency being short staffed and not having the manpower to provide us with the help I needed to care for my mother. Therefore, I was left alone to care for my mother. I admit that there have been times that I have had to leave my mother home alone. While she was home alone, she managed to get her own water and food from the fridge, as well as other necessary things on her own. But that was because I had to go to work. There have also been times where my mother has fallen on the floor and I had to call EMS to help get her up. There have been times that my mother was mean to me and said mean things to me. She was indeed difficult to care for. Especially when she was agitated. Many times, several aides have walked off the job because of it. I must admit, I have gotten frustrated and angry at my situation and felt like walking out. But I am only human. I will never give up on my mother who took care of me as a child. Eventually, the homecare agency found 2 wonderful aides that worked out well for us.

On or about July or August, an APS worker, came to visit my home and interviewed me, my mother and the aide that was currently working with us. She asked me if I were taking drugs and I told her no. She also asked for my mother’s banking information and other personal information. On her second visit, she brought in a psychologist to examine my mother. On her next visit to my home, she informs me that the psychologist deemed her cognitively impaired and unable to make her own decisions. She also hands me a cup for me to urinate in. She tells me that I must submit to a drug test. If I do not do it, she will take steps to have my mother put in a nursing home and have me put in jail on drug charges. She also tells me that if I am on drugs that would put my mother’s life at risk. So, she had to make sure that I was not using drugs. I informed her that I do not use drugs and never have. I submitted to the drug tests to prove my innocence and that I do not use drugs.

In the last couple of months, my mother has had multiple hospitalizations. On January 5, 2024, she was hospitalized for a stroke and a seizure. The doctors recommended that she go to rehab. But she did not want to go out of fear of being put back in a nursing home. She was discharged and came home on January 11, 2024. On January 15th, my mother complained of severe abdominal pains and diarrhea. Also, her blood pressure was too low. She was then taken to the hospital by the caregiver. She was admitted again. The doctors ran a bunch of tests and found that she had a mass in her colon. She then had surgery to remove the mass. Afterwards, she started to have a decline in her mentation and was not able to follow commands. She also was deemed not able to swallow food. Therefore, she has to be put on a feeding tube. On February 9th, my mother was discharged from the hospital and came home. We had to get her a hospital bed and a Hoyer lift. Furthermore, she already had bed sores when she came home. The hospital failed to provide wound care or teach me and my aides how to properly care for her wounds. The homecare people halfheartedly taught me how to set up the feeding tube. I tried to move her to change her and get her cleaned up. However, she was in a lot of pain from the bed sores she acquired from the hospital. I made multiple calls to the hospital homecare nurse looking for the support that failed to provide. I was not taught how to care for my mother properly and was not given the proper support. I have had to call EMS to get help with changing my mother’s diaper. During the day, my day aide needed help. So, my evening aide would come and help on a volunteer basis. Furthermore, we had appointments with doctors for my mother, as well as appointments with aftercare from the hospital. We had to reschedule that appointment with her doctor because the insurance company failed to provide transportation to the doctor’s office.

On or about February 12th, the APS worker unannounced. She screams and yells at my evening aide about her coming in early to help my daytime aide. The APS worker then calls the agency and accuses them of paying my evening aide under the table. My mother is still very confused about where she is and her surroundings. The APS worker takes advantage of my mother’s condition and manipulates her into telling her that the aides and I are neglecting her. She then leaves another cup in my bedroom for a urine sample. Later that afternoon, she calls me to inform me that she left a cup on my dresser to give another urine sample to check for drugs. She was coming the next morning to collect it from me. If I do not do it, she was going to take the steps to have my mother put in a nursing home and have me prosecuted on drug charges. So again, I cooperated and she came the next morning and took my cup of urine.

On February 17, 2024, my morning aide called in sick, stating that she had menstrual cramps. My evening aide had a family emergency. I called the agency looking for someone to fill in. However, they did not have anyone. So, I rescheduled the job I had that day to stay home with mother. I had to do everything by myself. It was very difficult because she was bedridden at the time. I tried turning her and repositioning her to change her diaper and get her all cleaned up by myself, however, it was very difficult. I had to pay someone to help me out.

On February 19, 2024, my mother was taken into the hospital because her bed sores, which she got during her last hospitalization, got bad to the point that they opened. This was due to the hospital’s failure to provide wound care after my mother was discharged. Her blood sugar was also high due to the infection. I went to visit my mother in the hospital the next day and had a long talk with her doctor about her history. I expressed my desire to keep my mother at home with her family, where she would have the best quality of life. That she needed would care services at home. On February 22, 2024, the APS worker calls me at my job to inform me that my mother was going under protective services. That my mother is going to a nursing home because. That there is evidence that my mother is being abused, neglected and her blood test tested positive for illegal drugs. That my urine test was positive for crack, cocaine, and heroin and that I am being investigated for possible drug charges. That she was referring this case to the Chester County District Attorney. I should expect to be arrested on drug charges. However, none of that is possible. There are no illegal drugs in my house. In fact, I never took drugs in my life. On March 2, 2024, they took my mother to the nursing home without telling me where she was going. I only found out because I have access to her medical records through the hospital portal.

On March 4th, 2024, the APS worker brought 2 police officers to my home and my apartment searched for drugs without a warrant to do so. When I asked to see the warrant, the APS worker told me that she did not need one because I was being investigated on drug charges. They took 3 insulin syringes out of my house, stating that I used them to shoot up drugs. I have been a type 1 diabetic since age 2 and the syringes are for me to take my insulin , which is medically necessary to save my life. I can have a doctor provide proof to the effect.

Furthermore, after doing extensive research on this case, I found out that my ex-boyfriend, Fouad Bekeaut contacted APS around 30 time making false complaints against me. He did this because I refused to marry him. I chose not to marry him because I realized he was not the right person for me. He did this out of revenge because I rejected him.

I feel that my mother’s civil rights, as well as mine, are being violated left and right. There was no court date to determine whether my mother can think for herself. Nor to determine if my mother was being abused and neglected at home. My mother and I were not served any court papers to about the charges filed. We have been denied due process and the right to an attorney. They took my bodily fluid under duress and searched my private house without a court order or warrant. APS basically just made-up false charges against me, so that they could grab my mother and put her in a nursing home.

According to the constitution, we both have a right to an attorney, no matter our ability to pay for one. I cannot afford to pay for a lawyer because I earn a modest income and I am struggling to make ends meet. I have contacted legal aid and they told me that they do not handle this type of case. So, they referred me to the Access to Justice program at Chester County bar association. I applied to the program, and I am waiting to hear from them, while they look for a lawyer. However, a lawyer through them is not guaranteed.

In the meantime, my mother is being forcibly detained in the nursing home against her will and she is being neglected. I have been having a hard time getting in contact with her. Furthermore, APS is continuing to harass me and are accusing me of being a drug addict. Even though, I have never used drugs in my life. I plead for your help with this issue so that my mother can have her civil rights restored. She is still lucid and able to make her own decisions. Keeping her in the nursing home will result in further decline. Under my care at home, she will have the best quality of life. She will have her aides, as well as everything she needs in life. She will also be surrounded by her family.

Therefore, I have set up this GoFundMe page to be able to pay for a lawyer for my mother. My GoFundMe include videos of my mother in her own words. Any donation, no matter how big or small helps.