
Pre-hospice housing and care for Jim Rotholz
Donation protected
Greetings, friends and family. I've set this up to help fund a comfortable end of life for my sweet dad, Jim Rotholz. Many of you know of his own fundraising efforts over the years to support food, shelter, and education ministries around the world. He has lived a life of service without monetary gain while he had his health, and now is in a position of needing his own financial support to remain housed during the last chapter of his life. Please feel welcome to skip to "how you can help" section if you prefer not to read this entire post.
First, who he is: Jim Rotholz lived life as an explorer, trekker, hippie Christian turned missionary, international aid worker, and father. Later, when he had kids and it became hard to care for his family overseas (we were evacuated from Addis Ababa due to civil unrest during a military coup), he went back to school to pursue cultural anthropology. My dad has always been fascinated by culture, stories, traditions, foods, and ways of being that are different than his own upbringing near Houston, Texas. A closet intellectual, he philosophized his way through a doctorate in Cultural Anthropology. Shortly after this achievement, related to the stress of managing a household with elementary-aged kids, a recently-disabled wife, and only a grad assistantship for wages, he lost his own health. Autoimmune conditions, fibromyalgia, multiple chemical sensitivity, malabsorption and neurological issues all developed, eventually leaving him permanently disabled. Unable to reverse this health collapse or maintain a formal career, he found ways to put his faith into action from the computer: promoting missions work and international development, earnestly fundraising for orphanages, serving on the board of non-profits, writing books telling stories of how the goodness of Christ has no borders.
Where he's been: A few years ago, my mom, Louise Rotholz, died of pancreatic cancer, leaving my father without his best friend of 42 years, but also without a caretaker, and unable to afford payments on their cabin by himself. I flew to Virginia and drove him to my home in Oregon to live with us. Unfortunately, this arrangement did not work out. Since then, he has found various EI (environmental illness)-safe short-term stays in cabins, garages, and on abandoned land, but has spend just as much time living out of his van. This has been exhausting, extremely challenging, and has led to further health decline. Jim was unhoused last year when he found out that he had both Lupus and metastasized cancer. Dear friends and family have been working hard to try to set up safe housing, and keep him comfortable though all this. Recently, our prayers were answered.
Where he is: Michael Clay, my uncle and my dad's older brother, was able to secure him a cabin at "Regina Caeli," a chemically safe, hyperbaric oxygen wellness retreat center in Ennis, Texas. What a relief for Jim to be housed, in a place he can be comfortable, have running water, air conditioning, and to be surrounded by others with a wellness-oriented, and Christ-inspired outlook. HUGE blessing.
What's next: While my dad's time remaining on Earth is unclear, no doctor has given him more than a year. One nurse suggested 2 months. We, his family, friends, and loved ones, want to keep him in a comfortable place where he can have running water, a toilet, a real bed, a refrigerator, and respite from the summer heat. Respite at the lovely Regina Caeli center has restored a necessary sense of dignity, safety, and security that was absent for so long.
How you can help: We are hoping that we, Jim's community, can come together to sponsor a day, two days, or a week of housing for him, and to assist with other end-of-life costs. I set this fundraiser for $20,000 to account for 4 months of housing, funeral costs, and to fund a personal care assistant when family can not be there and my father is too weak to cook and take care of himself. Once death is "imminent," Medicaid and Medicare coverage will allow for in-patient hospice care.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for considering supporting this fundraiser. Appreciate you (just for being you), even if you aren't able to donate. God bless.

Organizer
Abigail Rotholz
Organizer
Eugene, OR