My name is Sonia, I'm updating my original GoFundMe, which helped my 93-year-old dad stay in a safe environment. On October 21, 2025, my dad passed away peacefully in a caring and beautiful care home, which I was able to place him in with the assistance of the funds raised here.

Today, I'm facing some challenges paying for his final funeral plans, as I was not able to raise funds in time to pay for his funeral contract and his room and board at the same time.

My father had some savings, but his funds have been depleted, and we faced some tough obstacles with only his social security check to depend on.

I didn't grow up with my father, but I couldn't in good faith turn my back on him, so this journey has been emotionally and mentally challenging and overwhelming at times. He was diagnosed in 2021, and from the beginning, I've learned as much as I can about this disease to help him make ends meet and pay his bills, ensuring his savings went towards his room, board, and care at his previous assisted living facility.

This year, like many caregivers, this journey became my full-time, unpaid job. I've had to place my life on hold while I visited nursing homes and looked at alternative options to move my dad after his funds ran out. What I've learned is that we have a caregiving crisis on our hands.

15 years ago, I was my mother's caregiver, and it's disheartening to report that not much has changed regarding the support and care our elderly need. If you have funds, assisted living can be a saving grace. For those, like my dad, who run out of funds or are low-income, they are faced with moving to a nursing home if they don't have family that can take them in.

What I have found is that nursing homes need reevaluation and more protocols implemented to protect the residents. The people I've met and the things I've seen are alarming. I found a Medicaid pending nursing home nearby after searching for months, but because my dad kept wanting to leave, they asked him to go after only four days. In a nursing home setting, my dad would need to be placed in a lockdown unit for his safety. This nursing home had one, but they didn't have room for him, so I had to make a tough choice: move him to another nursing home in the area with terrible ratings, move him to one further away that was on the news recently for abuse to an elderly man, or place him back at his assisted living for a month to give me time to figure things out.

My dad had just enough left for June, and he was able to return to his assisted living facility. The original GoFundMe allowed my dad the chance to stay in a safer environment, with his own room from July until his passing on October 21. He was able to live his final days in a peaceful environment with caring aids and assistance from Hospice.

I want to sincerely thank everyone who donated to help my dad live safely and peacefully in his final days. Any amount of donation, big or small, is deeply appreciated to help me raise the final amount I need to pay the funeral home for my dad. Thank you all for being the village I needed to help my dad in his time of need. My heartfelt prayers go out to each and everyone here. May God bless you and your families the way you blessed my dad and my family.