Help Support Kim and Teena

Many of you know our father Kim Stertzbach and his wife Teena Racheli as two selfless human beings who have devoted their lives to the service of others.  They are now in a position where they could use some assistance themselves.  

Kim has had Alzheimer’s for almost a decade, and because of Teena's devotion to her husband, and her dedication to understanding the disease, she had been able to care for Kim at home, slowing his decline.  However, just over a year ago Kim was finally placed into a memory care unit in a small town near their home in Washburn, WI.  Unfortunately, Kim’s condition deteriorated rapidly with the increased quarantine measures that were brought about by the Covid-19 virus.
  
In March of 2020, nursing homes closed their doors to visitors including family members who provided essential care to their loved ones.  Teena would go to be with Kim everyday from 3-6:30 p.m. when he would experience increased anxiety and restlessness (what used to be called “sun-downing”).  She would calm and redirect him through this fearful time each day.  Staff have not been able to keep up with this kind of essential one-on-one care and many nursing home residents have deteriorated emotionally, cognitively and physically.
 
 Kim’s anxiety grew over the months into agitation and resistant behavior fueled by the isolation.  All this culminated in an unfortunate incident on November 19th, 2020, which saw our father handcuffed, removed from the nursing home by the police, and driven 5 hours in a squad car to a mental institution in Madison, WI.  Upon arrival, scared and disoriented, he was locked in a room with a bed and a bathroom to be quarantined for 14 days, seeing only masked staff, strangers to him, to bring him food, and assist him to bathroom twice a day – having limited interactions with people just 5 times a day. Over the course of the court-ordered 30 days, Teena was not allowed to visit him, hearing only worrisome reports about Kim’s emotional, cognitive and physical deterioration.  
 
After the 30 days in the mental hospital, Kim was a vestige of his former self.
 
Last week, thanks to her careful documentation, and an understanding judge, Kim was removed from the unnecessary restrictions of adult protective services which threatened to limit Teena’s ability to care for and make decisions for Kim’s care.  He was also moved from the mental institution to an assisted living center (still a 3 hour drive from Washburn) where he and Teena are now quarantining together.  She has arranged to also be a resident at the facility to prevent another separation from Kim. 

Teena continues to work in her full-time position as a pastor for several small churches in rural Wisconsin, while also advocating for Kim within the legal and dementia care systems and facilities.  Needless to say, it has been incredibly stressful both emotionally and financially.  
 
This fundraiser is to help Kim and Teena raise funds to pay off legal and travel fees and medical bills associated with Kim’s recent harrowing experience, as well as  the housing fees which enable her to have access to Kim by being a private-pay resident at the assisted living facility ($2225/mo).  Teena will remain a resident at the assisted living facility to direct and also provide his care, as she prepares for the possibility of retiring in order to care more fully Kim. 
 
Please consider making a donation to Kim and Teena.  Though they may be people you know personally and care about, their situation is unfortunately not all that unique.  Our system of care for the elderly, especially those affected by dementia, is severely broken.  Support is needed for people such as Teena who have devoted their lives to caring for loved ones with dementia and Alzheimer’s.  Teena is also someone who feels a call to advocate not only for her beloved Kim, but for ALL those affected by this devastating disease.  Supporting her, and others like her, is how we will truly see qualitative change in the way we care for our elders.  

Teena is a wealth of information, not only in how to care for individuals with Alzheimer’s, but in how the current system can so easily fail them.  While this fundraiser hopes to alleviate some of her immediate financial concerns so that she can continue to care for Kim, her commitment to advocacy for all those affected by Alzheimer’s and dementia will continue as a life passion.  
 
Thank you in advance for all of your support, and please don’t hesitate to leave messages here for both Kim and Teena!

Traeger and Tanner Stertzbach