A little over a week ago on October 3rd at about 5:30 a.m. I got a call from my 55-year-old disabled mother letting me know that her ceiling was leaking. My boyfriend and I rushed over to her apartment, expecting to see a small leak coming from the upstairs apartment, but to our surprise her entire ceiling looked like it was about to collapse and there was water soaking her mattress, furniture, and floor. We did everything we could to remove as much of her furniture out of the bedroom to the spare bedroom, and used whatever containers, pans, and trash cans we could to collect the running water. I initially thought that someone upstairs fell asleep in the tub, or left a faucet running of some sort. I ran upstairs, banged on the door, but no one answered. After trying to call the emergency number for my mom's apartment complex several times with no luck I called the non-emergency police in Conway out of concern for the upstairs neighbor. Luckily they came out and checked on the people upstairs only to find out that they had fallen asleep and left the bathroom sink running, which is directly over my mother's bedroom, and the sink had been clogged with a bottle cap for several days and hadn't been fixed yet, so water was overflowing for hours and seeping through the floor coming through my mother's ceiling.

My mother is physically disabled, having suffered four strokes over the last several years. She has paralysis on the right side of her body and can only transfer from her wheelchair to the bed or to use the toilet. I am her full-time caretaker and have been since quitting my job over two years ago as I could no longer balance a 40 hour work week on top of her very specific care needs, doctor appointments, and therapy appointments. My mom unfortunately does not have renter's insurance since she is on a fixed income with disability, and already lives in a lower income apartment in Conway that is handicap accessible. I do not have the ability to have her come stay with me temporarily while they repair her apartment due to our home not being wheelchair accessible and us not having an extra bed that would be safe for her to transfer to and from. Her apartment complex also let me know that they would not be able to supply her with a temporary unit due to it being a liability and they cannot offer any help financially with a hotel or other means of housing in the meantime as it is not their "responsibility. "

My mother has been staying in a hotel by my house for a little over a week now and the hotel is approximately $500 a week, which is more money than she pays in rent per month. I have no idea how long the renovations will take place in her apartment as the apartment complex has not been very communicative or timely in getting back to me when I request an approximate time on how long the repairs and renovations will take place. I have made nearly 50 phone calls to everyone I can think of who can help....charities, churches, Medicaid, Medicare, Red Cross, United Way, Eldercare, ECCHO, Housing Authority, you name it, I have called. I've even been in contact with my mother's social worker through Medicaid about respite care, but with most cases with respite care Medicaid will only approve about 5-7 days. Many nursing homes in our area have minimum stay requirements or are not taking in new patients due to COVID-19, and anything not covered by Medicaid is an out of pocket expense, sometimes costing about $250 out of pocket per day, which is far greater than her hotel costs. 

I'm at a loss as to what to do as I have very limited resources as it is. I work through Medicaid as her caretaker, and make close to minimum wage working only 20 hours a week, which is a sacrifice I had to make in order to give her the level of care she needs. I have exhausted nearly all options and am in constant fear every day that my mom won't have a safe place to stay while these renovations take place. I wanted to make this page just to ask for any help with hotel costs, or even to help pay for a new mattress since hers was ruined due to the contaminated water coming from the ceiling due to it going through layers of insulation.  I am not one to ask for help, even when I need it badly, but being a caretaker for my mother has already stripped me emotionally, mentally and physically, and the stress from this situation has taken its toll on me. I need help, plain and simple, and I never like to ask, because it is no one's responsibility to help me, but I truly feel as if I have exhausted all possible options and I keep meeting dead end after dead end. If you take the time to read this, share this, or donate anything at all, I cannot thank you enough. From the bottom of my heart I deeply appreciate it. I know now is a tough time for all of us and understand that asking for help at a time like this is too much, but I wouldn't ask for help if I didn't need it. Thank you again, even if you just took the time out of your day to read or share this. Please stay safe during this time.