Help Jenny (Nana) become whole again.

Hi, my name is Julian and Jenny is my grandmother. She helped raise me and my brother, along with countless other children. She came to this country with nothing but a hope for a better life for her and her daughter (my mom Caty). They prospered. My mom went to high school here and flourished (track and field star!). My mom met my dad and we popped out some years later. Unfortunately, our big happy family was only happy up until the day that my father tragically passed away in a car accident. I was 7. So, the five of us (including my grandma), became 4. My brother and I spent most of our lives being raised by the two strongest women I have ever encountered. It is for them that I come to you now.

My grandmother has worked in many different fields. From working in the same offices as Nixon (we have the signed "Thank you" note to prove it.. hehe ) to working in some of the nicest building in DC. But, it wasn't until later in life that she found her passion. Children. She helped many busy families raise their children. Most of the kids that she helped, learned to speak spanish and still do to this day! She still gets holiday cards from some of the families. That's the type of impact she had on their lives. Not to mention that she was usually taking care of me (and my brother sometimes) at the same time as all of these other kids because my mother had to work to keep us clothed, homed and happy. We never felt the bitter sting of 'want'. We only knew love. Love from these two perfect women. And the many others who helped us along the way, family, friends and countless others.

But, as of recently, my grandmothers health has taken a turn. She has dementia and she is very unstable on her feet. She has been able to get around on her own for a while now, that is, until the last 6 months or so. She has gotten much more unstable on her feet and started falling a lot. We have had to arrange 24hr care for her through her Medicaid benefits to keep an eye on her and help her in her day-to-day activities. Those benefits only cover a portion of the day. Since she cannot really move around freely by herself, we have had to hire more help to be with her around the clock. Those extra expenses come directly from our pocket.

4-5 weeks ago, my grandmother fell while she was with her weekend nurse. She was complaining of pain in her wrist and was rushed to the emergency room. I met them there just to learn that she had broken her wrist. After the orthopedic surgeon reset her wrist and cast it up, we went home. 4 weeks later, she is healed. Albeit, with a wonky looking wrist. But it works perfectly and there is no pain. One week ago, she collapsed on her way back to her bedroom (assisted). She was complaining about pain in her leg, so another trip to the ER was taken. This time by my brother. Lo and behold, a fractured femur. After spending week in the hospital, she was just recently transferred to a rehabilitation center. Mind you, we can only go to places that accept Medicaid. While the work of the nurses is incredible, they cannot be around my grandmother 24/7. She no longer has "aids" while she is in the rehab center because Medicaid will only pay for one service at a time. We have had to go take care of her in shifts. My mother during the day (she has had to take off of work to do this), me in the evenings and weekends when I can and so forth. We have hired a night nurse to look after her overnight, but not even she can work everyday. Again, an expense taken directly from us.

I have started this fundraiser to help us pay for these services that my grandmother so desperately needs. Not only will this alleviate some of the monetary burden, but also give and our mother piece of mind that she is being taken care of. My mother has been by her side day in and day out. Exhausted does not even come close to, what I can only imagine, she is feeling. Our goal is to be able to raise enough money for 6 months worth of care. If we reach higher than our goal, all of those funds will be to continue that care for as much time as possible.

I do not ask for this for myself. But for those two perfect, strong women that without them, we would not be the men we are today.

Anything helps. Thank you all for taking the time to read our little story and I hope you never have to go through something like this..