We received a call over a month ago from Ed, a disabled 78-year-old bed-bound, mostly paralyzed, and disabled man living alone. I went to see him and find out how we could help him move from East Pittsburgh to the South Hills by Nov. 1. due to an eviction notice he had received. According to Ed, the building manager said that due to his disability, he could not be in his apartment any longer since stairs were the main way to get in and out. Ed can only transfer himself to a wheelchair from his bed but cannot walk. He cannot bathe or dress himself. Ed had food delivered sometimes, but the delivery drivers had to use the sliding glass doors and put the food on the bed.

Since he is on a waiver program in the state, he is only able to use approved agencies for daily caregiving. Unfortunately, caregivers showed up 0-4 hours of the allotted 70 hours of approved time per week, and when they did show up, they left halfway through a shift (or sooner) and never returned. This has happened repeatedly, and no matter how he self-advocates, or how many times we have called the agency, it was not addressed. I met with Ed and the CHC Service Coordinator in his apartment, thinking it would move the needle, but nothing came of that. It was just going to be Ed and our team figuring this out!

No one was coming. We knew that, and so did Ed.

It was time to move. Maybe he would get better help in a different area.

We lined up the movers right away. We picked packing dates and crews, and on the day of the move, we quickly figured out that Nimbus Transit and Moving and Groovin' would have to work together due to the complicated and emergent nature of the move. This move took 5 men, 2 trucks, and 12 hours to move Ed yesterday.

We are not permitted to take clients in our cars, and Ed could not get ACCESS to arrange a ride last week for this week - let's not forget the holiday yesterday that meant everything was shut down. ACCESS is generally unreliable for scheduling around a client's needs and timeframe, so we paid $80 for an Uber. The movers picked up Ed, dressed him, and put him and his wheelchair into the car. A special thanks to that driver!

The men worked well into the night with multiple barriers in their way throughout the day. The final blow was when they arrived at the new building in Mt. Lebanon; the security guard told them they couldn't unload after 4.

Ed lost his main entrance key fob, but had his apartment key. When I calmly called security to find out what we could do to help this man get in, the man who answered shouted obscenities at me and hung up before I even got 5 words out of my mouth to explain the predicament. They had to use the stairs because the security guard would not let them use the elevator.

They moved him in anyway. They set up his bed. They got every box loaded in, every stick of furniture, everything by 9 pm.

Today, Purposeful Hands, a trusted partner with Safe Moves for Seniors, sent a wonderful team of women (aka Angels) to unpack Ed's primary belongings and get him settled.

Later in the day, I called Ed. His new caregiver was WITH him, and she assured me that she wasn't going anywhere. There is a LOT more work to be done to get him situated, but we are through the worst of it. (We think!)

The total moving bill came to $4800*.

*No tipping is permitted. Normally, our moves cost a maximum of $1200.

Note: He is NOT hoarding; he is "nesting" due to his disability. The photo of him in his bed has been cropped to remove the bedside commode, which, at the time of the photo, also held cookies on its lid that a neighbor had dropped off for him.

You can make a difference for Ed and many others like him by donating today to Safe Moves for Seniors.

Our mission is to move low-income older adults to safer, more affordable housing, at no charge. This removes any barriers that may be standing between someone who is ready to move but lack the resources in order to do so when they are ready or housing becomes available.