Financial Assistance for Displaced SWLA Caregivers
COVID-19 put us on life support. Hurricane Laura pulled the plug.
Our story and one of our best caregivers, Lisa Fuselier, was featured on CNBC on October 6, 2020. Watch CNBC News Story here
My name is Wendy Harper, I am the owner and president of At Home Compassionate Care in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Before Hurricane Laura, I managed 50 nursing assistants. Hurricane damage shuttered our office and forced most clients to evacuate. Today, the majority of our team is out of work.
The issue:
Our company office, client homes, and caregivers’ homes were mostly destroyed by the hurricane. This left our company inoperable with no future way of providing care to clients and work for the staff since structures were mostly destroyed.
The most important need is to provide immediate cash assistance for these families who have lost everything and are having to cover their displaced evacuation costs (hotels, food, gas, etc).
Many of the caregivers have been turned away from shelters and hotels in nearby Texas and Louisiana -- forcing these families to separate to find accommodation on their own dollar. Most are now out of money and have received limited if any federal and/or state help.
How you can help:
We want to give immediate cash assistance from this GoFundMe to our caregivers in Southwest Louisiana. Below are some of the family bios of employees who have lost everything. We will be dividing all funds raised to provide the financial relief these families desperately need at this time.
*Mother and daughter team- was caring for a disabled young lady with physical and mental handicaps. Both are staff members with us. Both are very compassionate and caring individuals. They are always there to fill in when needed. Currently in New Orleans, however we are trying to relocate to Covington, Louisiana so they can assist an elderly couple client we have housed in a hotel. They cannot afford the hotel the couple is staying in, therefore could use help for shelter. Could also use either cash or assistance with gas money.
*Female staff that was caring for a total care hospice patient. Single mom and is a very hard worker, she was always asking for work. She chose to work odd jobs here and there whatever she could then get on unemployment during COVID shutdown. She is so good at what she does and always has clients request her to return.
Currently in a hotel in Baton Rouge, LA with her family.
*Female staff provided care for a young lady with physical and mental disabilities. She is a sweet older lady that is a hard worker, I know she was working two jobs to try and make ends meet. She is currently evacuated in Dallas, Texas in a hotel.
*Female staff evacuated WITH one of our State Medicaid clients who is physically and developmentally disabled. She has been from city to city trying to find affordable lodging. She started out in Shreveport, Louisiana, then the hurricane hit there so she left for Tyler, TX, she is now on her way to New Orleans, LA. She has incurred numerous hotel room expenses, food, gas. I personally sent her $1,000 last week for available cash.
*Male staff went to a shelter in Texas where they turned him away and sent him to another shelter, he has been all over the place. They separated his family in the meantime. He is currently in Fort Worth, Texas and trying to get his family back together again. He is kind, and always gets me out of scheduling binds. A very dependable and hard working young man.
*Female staff is a CNA nursing student, was supposed to graduate in December as a Registered Nurse. Her apartment was ruined with the ceiling caving in and everything was destroyed inside her apartment. She is here on a student visa and is a Columbian citizen.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and GIVE!
Best,
Wendy Harper
#helplakecharles
*Poster Photo: Eric Thayer/Getty Images
