We’re fundraising for our niece Tasha Roberts medical care and support. We need help with handicapped transportation, home health equipment and home health personal care, things not covered by the small amount of Medicare she receives.

Tasha has had Multiple Sclerosis since she was 13, she is now 34 and has been in a wheelchair chair for at least 10 years. Her MS is progressing and there’s nothing that can be done to stop this disease. She has 2 darling daughters but can’t care for them, so her mother (my sister) is raising them but now lives in Texas.

This disease has affected Tasha’s brain, her decision making, and impulsive control, she’s been resisting the inevitable every step of the way and that hasn’t made her life easy. Recently her life has fallen apart, and she found herself living on the streets, thankfully an old friend found her, took her home and cared for her until it was too much. It’s a lot to handle, Tasha's legs are immobile, one sticks out and her foot is bent, her catheter has failed multiple times and she now needs to be seen by a neuro urologist (which is a hard appointment to get at Kaiser), her left arm has weakened and doesn’t function fully, her eyesight is getting worse and she can't stand too much light.

Tasha is now temporally living with her aunt (my other sister) until we can get her health needs back on track. We want to find her a good place to live where she can be physically supported and live a happy life. Unfortunately, there is no place for a 34-year-old with end stage MS other than a nursing home, which she has resisted because she says she's too young to live that way. She can't live alone without almost full time care, so, we currently don’t know where she will end up. We're taking it one day at a time.

The help that Tasha needs now is bigger than our large family can provide and now that Tasha is back in our lives, we want to make sure she stays safe, we want to support her and her mother and brother, who have been there for her all along but have been too proud to ask for help.

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated

A little bit more . . . .

We are currently working on getting her Medical reinstated for the county she's currently living in and my sister has been reaching out to a variety of agency and social services for help but is only hitting roadblocks. Here is part of her recent Facebook post which shows the level of frustration . . . .

"Be grateful that you don’t have MS or any incurable disease … it is beyond daunting for each individual - and for those who are forced to stand by and watch a person slowly but surely worsen each waking moment of their lives - there’s NO BREAK! NO DAY’S HOURS OR MINUTES “OFF”! Each loss of function heralds the slow steady demise of the next system.

The brain is attacked, and personalities are warped, over time and worn down to a pulp by the relentless onslaught of the effects of MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS. “Our present Health Care system will order tests, monitor bloodwork and keep track of all the “problems” and “needs”, but the PERSON trapped in this ever-deteriorating nightmare, is essentially, on their own - pay out of pocket for assistance that eventually can’t be avoided. Your family will be told to sell their homes, you will be referred to websites and marketing ads that espouse everything from 24 hr care, to hourly care - NOT covered by the insurance.

So, since, the person I’m talking about has never held a long-term job or been able to develop any marketable skills, due to having a progressively worsening disease since she was 14!!, she is sh-t out of luck! So, they say “there are charities “- “contact social service” - COVID is presently being blamed for a HOLD on ANY placements - “on hold” indefinitely, according to social services dept!

Not one charity has come through with any help. Lots of talk, zero action. The MS SOCIETY being one of those talkers with empty promises. “Can’t the family find a place?” They say …If agencies with huge (or maybe not so huge) budgets have no idea where, this once vivacious and hopeful individual, is too LIVE, how can her family? EVERY place says there’s a 1 to 2 year waiting list - already drained of recourses, physically weakened and emotionally devastated by this unstoppable disease. HOW DOES THIS THING WAIT FOR 1-2 years? How can those who are HELPLESS find help when by the time they realize they need help, there is nothing left? Good luck trying to find “the right place”? “ . . . .