Chris and Rita Elliott need our help!

Having served our community as a EMT-paramedic (Chris) and EMT-B (Rita) for decades, Chris and Rita Elliott now need our help. They retired to Costa Rica but had to return permanently to the U.S. for ongoing medical care. Both are now disabled with progressive diseases and lack the financial resources to cover that care. Rita requires 24 hour supervision which Chris, with advanced Parkinson's Disease, is no longer able to provide. In his devotion to Rita's care, Chris has exacerbated his own health problems, which can't continue. She is currently in the hospital in Bellingham and needs a respite stay while a long-term care solution is put together by social workers on the case.

The kind of facility Rita requires (locked dementia care) is expensive, somewhere around $10,000 for a 30 day stay. This is an evolving situation, complicated by the inadequacies of our current system in its treatment of ill elders without adequate financial resources. Legal help will also be needed to obtain legal guardianship for Rita and to protect what resources they do have.

We are asking for donations to cover their current medical and legal needs. Chris and Rita gave of themselves for years and we are appealing to the community to help them in return. Here is a link to a 2010 Islands Weekly story about them on the verge of their retirement from the Lopez Island Fire Department: https://www.islandsweekly.com/life/have-you-heard-about-the-elliotts/