Judith Michael’s story.

My name is Heather Gemino. We did not know Judy before this day. We met the most amazing, sweetest, and kindest person we have met in a very long time. Her name is Judith, but she prefers Judy. She is 79 years old. On November 3, 2026, Judy was out running errands in Warsaw, IN. She was finished for the day and headed back to her home in Rochester, IN. She was pulled over by a police officer and told he had pulled her over for a broken light on her license plate, even though it was daytime. The officer told 79-year-old Judy that she had a warrant out for her arrest from Montgomery County, IN, for a check deception charge from 2006 for a $37 check for gas in her car. He took Judy to the Warsaw jail to contact Montgomery County to see if they were still going to pursue charges, seeing as the charge was over 20 years ago and for one $37 check. Montgomery County told them to hold her, and they would be there to transfer her to Crawfordsville, IN. After spending the entire day and night in the Warsaw jail, where she was not fed and not given medically necessary equipment to allow her to sleep, she was then transferred to Crawfordsville and booked into the jail. My husband and I found out her story and knew we needed to help Judy. So my husband and I headed to the jail to bond Judy out and get her home to Rochester, IN. Since it’s a good 2-hour drive from Crawfordsville, we had a lot of time to get to know Judy and her story. Judy and her sister lived together their whole lives. They lived in Rockville, IN, for over 30 years before moving to Rochester. They had a dog grooming business out of Rockville and had a dog accessory booth at the Covered Bridge Festival for over 20 years. She worked nights at Walmart in Crawfordsville to help fund their passion for dogs and caring for multiple rescues. Last year in November 2025, Judy lost her sister. She was the only family Judy had. Her sister had multiple medical issues over the last few years, including multiple heart attacks. They had been struggling to make ends meet with all the medical expenses and covering their bills. When Judy’s sister passed away last year, she had to take out a home equity loan to help cover expenses. Judy has been struggling to pay that loan and all the bills on her very small monthly Social Security income. The city gas company is telling her that she needs to get it switched into her name, but they said she has to pay the overdue balance and then put down a $700 deposit to have it put into her name. With winter fast approaching, we are very concerned about Judy’s well-being. They will be shutting the gas off to her home any day now. She has all the dogs her and her sister had rescued to take care of as well. We are just asking that if there’s anyone who is willing to help Judy get through these difficult times, we know she would be super grateful. She truly is an amazing person. We are also working with an attorney to get this charge taken care of for her. She has worked her entire life and can’t even afford monthly expenses with what the state gives her of $1200/month. Judy is trying to survive however she can by going to food banks and going without much needed necessities to ensure her dogs are fed. We are heartbroken for Judy and everything she is going through right now. After losing the only family she had, this was absolutely the last thing Judy needed. We have faith that God has a plan and maybe this happened so we could pull together as a community to help keep her safe this winter. We know times are tough for everyone right now, especially with the holidays fast approaching, so if you can’t donate, please send thoughts and prayers her way! The funds will be used to help Judy to pay up her utilities, get her gas turned back on so she has heat this winter, pay food much needed necessitates, make repairs to her home that are very much needed so she can have water, medical bills and towards the loan she had to take out on her home to be able to afford funeral expenses for her sister. We will be providing Judy personally with a check for all money donated. We will be assisting Judy to make sure the funds cover as much as possible so she can rest easy knowing she will be warm this winter and have everything she needs.