Image credit: Los Angeles Times
A few months ago, the Los Angeles Times covered the story of a 97-year-old woman, Bessie Mae Berger, living out of an SUV with her two sons after losing their home in Palm Springs. Although Bessie qualified for housing, somehow her sons (at 60 and 62!) were “too young” to qualify as well (there’s California logic for you), and she refused to be separated from them.
As I have well learned from experience, there’s nothing like a bit of publicity to get the help you need. Upon the release of the Times’ article, public outrage, donations, and support spurred the state to ramp up their efforts to assist the family. A nonprofit organization, the Integrated Recovery Network, finally managed to locate temporary housing for all three people.
Bessie Mae passed away yesterday of a stroke and a heart attack. However, she went on her terms – she lived her final months in a home, not a car, with her two beloved sons by her side. And she brought increased attention to the growing epidemic of elderly homeless individuals in the U.S.
Rest in peace, Bessie Mae Berger. Your struggle was not in vain.
Dear Brianna,
Thank you for your story. I will be looking into the Integrated Recovery Network.
My father recently had a stroke and a heart attack recently, but I wonder what would be of him if he did not live with us. This woman at least had her two sons, I feel for all those elderly displaced persons who have no one to lean on.
God bless her sons for staying by her side
Well what do you know? At the age of 97, this woman will have changed the world as she knew it. How powerful in the face of humanity! God Bless You, Bessie and your two sons! They have a great Angel to now take care of them.
Bri, when I first read this story a few months ago (via the internet), it reminded me of a woman I met in San Luis Obispo (California), during a “Homelessness Awareness” event sponsored by our local college, Cal Poly. The woman was 90 years old, a former teacher (like me), had married late in life, did not have any children, and her husband had passed away. As we continued talking, I learned that she was staying at the Maxine Lewis Shelter here. WHAT?! In fact, I have been noticing more and more men and women, who are over the age of 70 and are living on the streets or in shelters. Something is CLEARLY very wrong here!
If I were to retire now, my Social Security retirement benefits would only be $300. a month. Let’s say that I had subsidized housing & was only paying a third of my income for rent. O.k., that’s $100., leaving me $200. a month for food, utilities, transportation, medication, etc. As it stands, Section 8 Housing lists have been closed nationwide for years – meaning that you cannot even fill out an application for housing.
As a society, we need to STOP THE INSANITY! Personally, I’ve had it with all of the U.S. military muscle (& obscene numbers of dollars for bombs) policing the planet, while allowing our citizens to suffer. Enough already!
Thank you for helping to bring these issues to light, Bri.
Blessings,
Rev. Cynthia
Cynthia is right, we need to re-evaluate our values. Americans should value love more than the police-state which is rising in our nation. They are taxing us to death (just like the Soviet Union did with planned starvation). More people should read books instead of watching the talking heads on TV.
Happy Ending! (no pun!) Thats great. I’m glad they could be there for each other. God Bless them and the people that got involved to help. momento mori.
Adopt a homeless elderly person or family program:
I wish there was an experimental program whrere people with money and looking for a tax break could anonymously “adopt” a homeless person or family and pay at least the person’s rent for, say, 2 to 3 years, not to exceed around $800 a month for a single person.
1. Tax break: The person with money could get a tax deduction for say 75 to 100 per cent of the rent. The deduction would vary from state to state, because rent costs vary from state to state.
2. The donor and the homeless person/family would always remain anonymous to each other.
3. Social Services or a a group like Catholic Charities would run the experimental program. If the program is a success, it would be expanded to other states and cities.
4. Rule: A person could not “adopt” a family member or friend.
5. For instance, Gates of Microsoft fame could lead the way by adopting a homeless person/family anonymously in a city of his choice.
6. If Gates is successful, his succcess could encourage other people with money to follow gates example and “adopt” a homeless person/family in the city of the choosing.
7. This program would be a small solution to the severe homeless problem, especially among the elderly, but it will be a good start.
8 .Lottery: Maybe a lottery could be set up pick the homeless persons or families who would be chosen for the program. For instance, the local welfare department could match lottery winners with people with money who volunteer for the tax deductible program.
9. For instance, let’s say that the local welfare department has found 10 people with money who say that they would like to volunteer for the program to help the homeless.
10. But the local welfare department has 20 homeless persons/families who need a place to stay.
11. The welfare department could then set up a lottery where the 10 homeless persons/families could be matched with the 10 anonymous people with money.
My mother-in-law is 90, and homeless. Today, I lost my job of 5 years – and I’m 65. However, my wife and I have a home for now and we would gladly share it with her. Her other daughter also has a home where mom is now, but she is leaving there tomorrow for Los Angeles. She has a son there but he can’t care for her, so she has arranged to stay with a friend. We don’t expect he will be able to care for her beyond a few weeks. So why is she so driven to go out into the world like this at 90? Because she’s an actress and has a dream to be working again on stage and in movies. And she has cashed it all in for that dream, to be on the stage or screen once again. I say once again because she hasn’t worked since she was 89, when she was in the two biggest movies of her career. I would tell you what they were but it would blow her cover, I’m not sure she would like that. She’s not one for charity, she likes playing her cards close to the vest and when it comes to laying them down you can be sure it won’t be an act. They don’t make people like her anymore.