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Support Judith Young

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UPDATE 2/7/2024
Another $1,000.00 raised to support Judy Young! More funds creates more headspace for me (Judy's daughter) to enjoy building bed tents and listening to music practice with my youngest. Thank you for the breathing room! In the interest of transparency, I received a notice on February 2nd that the Sunrise of Blue Bell location is transitioning its management to Morningside Elite Management. Information sessions from the new management team are to come. I wanted to share in case you notice the new name on future posts. Take care!

It’s come to this…
Greetings family and friends of Judy Young. Liz Schaeffer, Judy’s daughter here. Many of you know my mother as a devoted Nana and Great Grand-Nana, a lover of all dogs (especially Golden Retrievers), a fierce researcher, a librarian to her core, a pet therapy advocate, a supporter of arts and culture, and long-time Jeopardy fan. Many of you may also know that around 2015 my mother was diagnosed with vascular dementia .

In 2017, she moved to assisted living to ensure her safety and help with medication compliance. Since that time, as her power of attorney, I have worked hard to reconcile her finances and contribute to her expenses whenever possible. We started falling behind in her rent after the rate increase in 2022. I paid what I could and was transparent with her assisted living facility about the financial challenges. In July of 2023, she was given 30 days’ notice due to the extent of unpaid rent. At that time, I took out a personal loan (on top of any funds I had already borrowed from my own retirement) to pay the back rent despite my having my own health challenges with costs that were adding up. Rates increased again in 2024. I’m tapped out and don’t know what else to do.

Please consider supporting her so she can age with dignity and the care she deserves.

FAQs
Your mom worked hard. Didn’t she have retirement savings? Yes, at one point she did. I don’t know what happened to the bulk of those funds. Withdrawals were made before I became power of attorney in 2017.

But what about the lovely house she inherited? Surely funds from the sale could be used for her expenses. By the time I became power of attorney, there was very little equity in a house that she had inherited mortgage-free. I’m not sure why, and I won’t speculate on that here. Any remaining inheritance funds or funds from the sale of the house contributed to about two years of her care.

In this day and age, don’t people have long-term care insurance to help? Yes, she did, but she stopped paying into it at some point. The policy was frozen, leaving only enough funds for reimbursement of about 6.5 months of assisted living.

Can she downsize even more? My partner in parenting and I have moved her three times since 2017 to reduce costs.

What about Medicare and Medicaid? Don’t get me started. In short, she doesn’t qualify for Medicaid for various reasons. Medicare and Medicaid don’t pay for assisted living. Although I’m researching skilled nursing places that take Medicare as next steps, the ideal scenario for her is to stay where she is if I can catch up on rent. Essentially, I need to buy some time.
Can’t she move in with you? At this point, she would not be able to safely ambulate in our homes. Plus, two neurodiverse kids + a cognitively impaired senior under one roof is a not an ideal scenario.

Can’t a social worker help? You’d think, but they just refer me to resources I’ve already tried or to programs she doesn’t qualify for because of her monthly income from social security and pensions. This income, however, does not cover base rent, medications, or other interventions/supplies.

What about an elder law attorney? $$$$$$$ and ⌚. I was lucky enough to have input from an experienced team during our initial transition to assisted living as a contingency in the sale of her house. At the time, they determined the best place for her financially was her current facility. I don’t have the funds to recruit them for next steps when all I want to do is break even with her current facility.

Can’t you take on a side hustle to help with expenses? I have. Last school year, my then-8-year-old and I provided before-school care to a neighbor. Unfortunately, it became too much for me to juggle before starting my real work day as a Managing Editor in publishing.

Feel free to message me directly with any questions. All funds will be directly deposited into the bank account connected to her assisted living facility’s online payment portal. I will share a screen shot of her paid off balance if the fundraising goal is met. Thank you for reading!


Nana observing grandkid's social media feed.
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Donations 

  • Andy Rydzewski
    • $20
    • 1 yr
  • Anonymous
    • $1,000 (Offline)
    • 1 yr
  • Anonymous
    • $100
    • 1 yr
  • Rhona Pozzi
    • $25
    • 1 yr
  • Mary Croll
    • $500
    • 1 yr
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Organizer

Elizabeth Schaeffer
Organizer
Jenkintown, PA

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