Support for the Morales Elders: Keeping Our Family Safe, Warm, and in Their Home

Our family is humbly reaching out for help something we never imagined doing, and something we do now with a very heavy heart.

My momma, my sister, and I have always been fiercely protective of our elders: Auntie Norma, Auntie Fidela, Auntie Elena, and our Uncle Chewy. They’re the heartbeat of our family. They’re our responsibility. And we’ve carried that responsibility with pride, love, and determination. But today, the weight is heavier than what we can manage alone.

Who They Are

These four elders are extraordinarily resilient, funny, stubborn in the best way, and full of love. They are also special-needs adults who depend on each other and on us, and we do everything we can to help them live independently in the home they’ve had for decades.

Uncle Chewy, a survivor of police brutality before Miranda rights even existed, has always been the rock of their household. He cooks, cleans, and helps care for his sisters, even while carrying his own trauma and disability.

Auntie Fidela, who is high-functioning, does her best to help bathe her two older sisters, watch their medications, and manage small parts of their budget.

Auntie Norma, age 59, walks with a walker and is developmentally about four or five years old. She loves her dolls, bright colors, and anything soft. She brings sweetness into every room she enters. She also LOVES singing and listening to music.

Auntie Elena is currently in another fight with cancer. She is in a wheelchair, going through chemotherapy again, and developmentally about eight or nine years old. Through all this, she still laughs, still prays, and still shows up as a warrior.

They have survived more hardship in one lifetime than most families face in three. Yet they continue living independently, taking care of each other, and staying rooted in their home a home filled with memories of all our elders who came before them.

How We Got Here

After the passing of two of their brothers Uncle Robert (October 2021) from COVID complications and a stroke, and Uncle Pancho (July 2023) from a massive heart attack; their Social Security disability was suspended because they received all of Uncle Robert’s pension and retirement benefits, which put them temporarily over income limits.

Because of the sudden loss of their brothers, the cost of two funerals, a roof replacement, medical copays that Medicare and Medicaid do not cover, rising inflation, and ongoing federal budget cuts, their savings and pension funds have run out.

Uncle Robert was a lifetime Teamster, and his pension and retirement benefits were split among the siblings. When both brothers passed away, the system put the surviving siblings’ benefits on hold.

We have been fighting the government ever since to fix this. But with the shutdown, backlog, and delays in reopening, their income has been gone for months.

We were forced to request a mortgage forbearance, and even with that, the bills kept coming:

• past-due mortgage payments

• utility bills

• medical expenses

• transportation costs for cancer treatment

• the cost of seasoned firewood that heats their home

Now, they are at the edge of losing the stability they’ve held onto for so long.

What We Do as a Family

We take care of them in every way we can:

• mowing the lawn

• cleaning gutters

• grocery shopping when Uncle Chewy cannot drive due to illness or severe arthritis

• paying small bills when we can

• teaching them technology

• navigating medical appointments

• filing government paperwork

• hauling and stacking firewood

• guiding them through systems that honestly don’t understand families like ours

My husband, my children, my sister, my brother-in-law, my niece and nephew, my mom, and my cousins Ricky and his wife we all pitch in. We do it with love. We do it without hesitation. But right now, love isn’t enough to cover the costs.

What We Need

We are trying to raise $5,000 to keep our Aunties and Uncle safe and stable while we wait for their disability income to be reinstated.

The funds will go directly toward:

• back mortgage payments

• upcoming mortgage amounts

• overdue utilities

• medical-related needs

• seasoned firewood to get them through the winter

This will keep them in their home together, safe, warm, and cared for while we finish the fight with Social Security.

Why We’re Asking

It hurts to ask.
We were raised not to. But the reality is simple and unforgiving: without help, our elders will fall deeper into a financial crisis they did not create and cannot fix on their own.

They deserve better.
They deserve dignity.
They deserve safety.
They deserve to remain in their home.

If you are able to give anything, truly anything we will be grateful beyond words. If you cannot give, please share. Every act of support makes a difference.

From our family to yours, thank you for seeing them, loving them, and helping us protect the people who once protected all of us.

With gratitude,

The Morales Family