Guardian Attorney Saves Home From Foreclosure

submitted by Maria M. Gallo, Esquire titled by E.A.

I was contacted by a local attorney who asked me to take over guardianship of a little old lady (and I use that term affectionately) as she was ornery and had run off all her other family. I contacted her family to advise them of my appointment as successor guardian. Many hung up on me and at least two relatives cursed me out.

I located Mrs. J. in a nursing home. The hallways were long, there were nurses and other staff running about, patients wandering in and out of her room, wheelchairs zipping down the hallways, and medical equipment clanking on the tiled hallways as they hit the floor. The place was LOUD.....Not only that, but during one of my visits, the smoke detector went off and we were both literally locked in her room when the magnetic lock failed to release. We waited over an hour for staff to realize we were stuck and to extricate us from the room.

She wanted to go home. I made arrangements to see her home. I found the home in gross need of repair. There was an inch of water on the floor, a partial roof collapse in the back, 40 years worth of stuff collected in the home, dead roaches in a sink full of dirty dishes, no electricity, and evidence of at least one break-in. Foreclosure notices for an ill-advised line-of-credit loan were piled up in the mailbox.

Needless to say, this home was not safe for Mrs. J. I immediately took steps to save the home from foreclosure and to repair the partial roof collapse so that the home did not take on any more water. I found volunteers to clean up the home and to pump out the water. I negotiated with the power company to turn on the power while I located financing/assets to pay the past due bills. (This may sound easy but trust me, this takes work and time.)

But all those efforts were not to be. Mrs. J. suffered a medical setback while I worked to return her to her home. It was no longer an option. I then took immediate steps to locate a safe and home-like environment for her. I put her on waitlists for the better ALFs in the area. With a little luck and a lot of hard work, I got her into one of the better ALFs in the area. She had her own apartment with her own belongings and furniture. She eventually came to call this apartment home and became the ALF's master pianist and played at their church services on Sundays. She entertained the residents every day at 4 pm and became a regular on the activity director's schedule of events. She would go on ice-cream outings with the other residents and enjoyed visits and outings with her friends who were allowed to take her.

She enjoyed several months of living there until her death this November at the age of 86. I contacted her family personally to advise them of Mrs. J's passing. Her family apologized for their earlier rudeness and thanked me for my service. Apparently, unbeknownst to me, Mrs. J. (who apparently referred to me as that nice girl who visits me) and other staff members had been reporting my many kindnesses and hard work to the family all the while.
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Thank you Maria ;

What lovely stories , please keep those coming we need those to give us hope.

I also have some good new to share upon our return from the Dominican Republic Clara's guardian Donald E .Yates, Esq. has been encouraging for Clara to move back into her house where she feels the most comfortable and has been working hard to keep Clara's bill paid and the legal costs down.

Lets hope others are as willing to work on restoring Clara's civil rights and will be as much a positive influence on her as he has been .