Please support our dear friend Karen

Dear Friends,

We are reaching out to you today with a plea for help for our dear friend, teacher (middle school at Truckee, CA, and Fresno, CA), mother, and grandmother, Karen Bovee (Velasquez). Karen has been living with multiple sclerosis (MS) for many decades now being cared for by her daughter, Mary Lee Gurerro, and her family. Karen’s situation has taken a turn for the worse and her family now needs to relocate her to an Assisted Living facility in Albuquerque, NM.

If you have had the pleasure of spending time with Karen you will know her to be one of the best listeners, conversationalists, and thoughtful persons you will have ever encountered. One of the many reasons she was such a beloved middle school teacher.

Karen has entered her 80’s and life has become a bit more challenging. In addition to MS, Karen developed Osteoporosis, though remained remarkably mobile until 2020 when she was hospitalized with multiple hip fractures. Karen suffered additional fractures this past December and was hospitalized because she could no longer cope with the pain.

After many weeks at a rehabilitation center, she was classified as “failed to progress” and was essentially disqualified for further treatment. Once home, she completed 8 weeks of Medicare Home Health, but was denied any further home physical therapy because she was “not meeting Medicare physical expectations.”

Karen continues to be her alert and engaging self, but now requires more help than Mary Lee and her family can provide. She is in need of a long-term skilled nursing facility as her family cannot provide 24/7 care. As you can expect, this has taken a toll on Karen, Mary and the family physically, emotionally and financially. They could certainly benefit from an outpouring of love and support.

Karen’s family would like to move her from Virginia back to Albuquerque, NM, where Karen spent many years of her life and where she has a small but strong community of close friends. Albuquerque is also much more affordable and accessible for long-term care options available to Karen.

Together, we can ease Karen and Mary Lee’s financial burden and allow the entire family to focus on what truly matters: providing comfort, support and assistance to our dear friend, Karen.

We are hoping to raise as much as we can to help this great family with whatever they need as they navigate through this difficult time. A donation in any amount will help immensely.

With heartfelt gratitude,

Russ Haswell

Childhood & forever family friend

Cristina Gurerro

Granddaughter to Karen

On behalf of Karen Bovee, Mary Lee Guerrero and Greg Velasquez

Music for the video presentation provided by A Dyar Situation