My name is Marta Pacheco. I am one of three daughters of Awilda Navia. I've been living and taking care of my mom since 2004. Since 2022, her health has deteriorated drastically, especially in the past 6 months. She was having trouble remembering things and forgetting when she took her pills. Falling all the time, as her balance was extremely off. To the point that, finally, in January, one of the falls was severe enough that we had to take her to the hospital and see what was going on with her. At this point, she was also getting too aggressive and forgetful. Saw things that were not there to the point that it was too much for just me to handle. Once we were in the hospital, they determined that she had a pinched nerve in her shoulder/neck area that would require surgery. This surgery was extremely painful, large recovery time, and it was something the doctors advised against at the time, due to many other concerns they had with her declining health and mind. Mom was also diagnosed with dementia and had an extremely tough time in the hospital, especially when I had to step away to go home and take care of daily necessities. The recommendation was to send her to a rehab facility to work on her balance, and after that was completed, it was also recommended for her to be in a stable assisted elderly facility so that she can live the rest of her days a bit more comfortably and have 24-hour care. I tried, God knows I tried my very best not to take her away from me and into a facility where I did not know how she would be treated. It was especially hard and scary to think that Mom would be in a facility and not at home.

We found a great facility, where we met the people who ran it, and it came with good recommendations, but they only had a few spots left. So we took this facility initially. This was a facility in Shakopee, MN, which is quite a distance from where I currently live in Minnetonka. However, we made it work with the help of my daughter, Ashley, sons, Pedro and Hector. They made sure, along with some close friends who live nearby, that I could come see Mom often and make sure she was ok. This was temporary until a spot would open in the Minnetonka facility, which is much closer to my home. Finally, in June, we were able to move her to the Minnetonka facility, which would make it so much easier for everyone to be able to see her.

Unfortunately, this does not come cheap. These facilities are extremely expensive. We found some support from the government's help for the elderly, as well as others like the GHR Foundation. That, with her SS income, we were able to get her in, and the remainder, my son Hector was taking care of it in the meantime, until we would figure out some more assistance to cover the remainder of the monthly rent for this facility. Due to unfortunate events this year, programs that were eliminated forced the assistance we were getting to be rolled back. This made the monthly payment that we would have to pay out of pocket about $2,090.72 a month. We have tried to reach out to multiple places where we might get some extra help and finally found one that will help with a small portion of the out-of-pocket expenses. This will be about $592.00 monthly. That still leaves us with $1,498.72, which we as a family will have to figure out moving forward. The issues between the programs being eliminated and the increase in the out-of-pocket costs since April which left us way behind on the payments to the tune of almost $5,000. The new facility we owe about $2,391.83, and the Shakopee facility we owe about $4,916.51. We've made a few payments to Shakopee before the move, and we can do a payment plan for only a partial payment of the debt, which leaves us with about $4,900 or so dollars, so she is not removed from the facility. Right now, the priority is to come up with the $2,391.83 for the Minnetonka facility, which is where she currently resides. Then we can work on the Shakopee total.

I hate that it has to come to this, where I have to ask other people for help. But I do not know what else to do. I ran some events on Facebook, sold what we could out of things we don't need to raise whatever we can. Between her living expenses and the facility expenses, this has been difficult. It can be managed, but falling behind like this due to the program being canceled took a toll on my family, and we have nowhere to turn. I am not looking to raise everything, but anything that you can throw our way will help, and we will be eternally grateful.

Thank you for reading and helping. Sharing this alone helps. From the bottom of my heart, I thank anyone who can help me and my family continue to take care of my mom, Awilda Navia.

I love you, Mom, and I will keep fighting through all my illnesses and issues to make sure I keep taking care of you and know that I will always be here, even when you start to forget me.