Seeking help with our Mom's medical & living costs

Hello,

This is really difficult to do. Thank you in advance for reading.

My Mother Kathleen was diagnosed with Dementia in 2019, and as of about 6 months ago, her diagnosis was updated as Lewy Body Dementia. She is experiencing severe cognitive decline, and physically is starting to experience more pain in her back and hips as well as loss of control over some bodily functions. We feel certain that she will need to be relocated to assisted living within the year, which is extremely expensive.

The reason I'm asking for help is this: About a year and a half ago, a family member and his wife wiped out her bank account, leaving my other sibling and myself to juggle her rising medical costs. They had been trusted with temporarily living with my Mom and assisting her partner with some daily care, being on hand in case of emergencies, etc. However, they decided to take advantage of her condition and spend all of her money + savings on themselves. (The legal case is now public record, happy to send that link along if anyone needs to see proof).

Since then, it's been a rough journey of navigating the sluggish legal system, awaiting repayment/legal restitution (which may never happen), flying back and forth to Florida where she lives, paying for a caretaker out of pocket, home repair expenses, medical & hygiene supplies, etc.

We find ourselves struggling to keep up with these costs (I'm a small business owner and times have been rough on that front, my sibling also works but the cost of our Mom's current home maintenance/repair is intense). We have submitted her Medicaid application and are pushing to have it expedited. Once she gets approved, this will definitely help take some pressure off of us, but in the meantime we're hoping we can get a little help for some of her immediate needs.

Thank you so much for reading, please share if you can! I will update this as soon as her Medicaid kicks in and we're able to end the fundraiser - for now the goal reflects the cost of her monthly caregiver visits + medical supply needs for the next few months.

Much Love,

Laurie