Nitz family fundraiser

My sister Caroline has a generous spirit. She provides care for all those around her. Her service-oriented heart is illustrated in her relationships with her loved ones, care for her students, and her commitment to mercy ministries in the community. While in the past, Caroline’s giving heart has been intrinsically rewarding, recently, it has led to financial and emotional hardship.

Caroline has been taking care of our parents single-handedly for sometime. She won’t admit to how many miles she’s put on her car nor tell you how much of her own money she has used to pay for their medical expenses. While her’s is not a story of sudden catastrophe, my parents’ deteriorating health has been an enduring cycle of tragedy for her and our family.

Our mom, Linda, has been battling Type 1 diabetes, heart problems, dementia, and has suffered numerous strokes over the past year, and though he doesn’t like to admit it, David, our dad, has had ongoing trouble with mobility and urinary health.

In January of this year, my sister and I had to make the difficult decision to permanently remove my parents from their 50 acre property into an assisted living facility to help them get the care they require. Since moving into the facility, my parents continue needing hospitalization (Mom has taken 5 trips to the ER just since June 1st). Between long term care costs, ER visits, ambulance fees, and rehab facility costs, my family has exhausted all their credit cards and have a stack of loans and mortgages I had previously only experienced in the board game Monopoly.

In an effort to fund a portion of my parent’s medical and housing needs, Caroline and I elected to hire an estate sale liquidator to spearhead cleaning out the 5 BR/3 Bathroom home to prepare it for sale. Unfortunately, the estate company manager and crew damaged the property further and ruined assets intended for sale costing us more than $20,000 in additional charges rather than making us money. Their work also set us back 3 months due to their poor planning.

Needless to say, it’s been a really bad year. Currently, Caroline is faced with $20,000 to complete the house sale and an ongoing $7,000 monthly rent for my parent’s assisted living apartment and care. Today while Caroline was visiting my mom in the hospital, the doctor’s told her they wanted to discharge her to a physical rehab facility before returning to live with her husband. Upon calling the facility, Caroline discovered that insurance will not cover the stay, and the facility requires $9,000 up front in order to begin her care.

Caroline is absolutely devastated with accumulating financial burden to care for our parents, and it’s beginning to affect her own health. Balancing a full-time job in addition to a full-time caregiver role has forced Caroline and her partner to put their plans to become foster parents on hold. Despite Caroline’s giving spirit, the financial and care-giving burden has become unmanageable. As her sister, living 600 miles away and unable to provide her with the necessary support, I am appealing to this large community of generosity. Care for my mom right now is critical, and I’m hoping to raise the $9000 required to get her into this rigorous therapy center. Thank you for anything you can offer to help my sister in this difficult time.