funds to cover the cost of care

We need urgent help to raise funds to be able to to cover the costs of care over a week where it is a shortfall of what the government can't fund (until NDIS is available for older people) 

The donations put simply are: for the cost of a day  
Getting up and shower = 1 morning shift,  2 people; lunch shift; 1 dinner shift; 1 Bed shift
Thank you from Carol Fudali....   

My friend Jo Blesing has chronic secondary multiple sclerosis. She is now a virtual quadriplegic and in constant pain, yet she is an amazing testimony of strength and willpower with what she continues to create and bring into her life.  I gain so much personally by knowing Jo and seeing her dealing with seemingly insurmountable barriers, she is the most amazing and inspiring person I know.  

Jo doesn’t get enough government funding to cover her basic care costs per year and needs to raise the money urgently in the next few days  for the end of the year Christmas care. There is no other way to get the funding. This amount is needed solely to cover basic care requirements 3 times a day. 

The funding system in SAust requires Jo to find and additionally train her own carers without any extra assistance or funding. The funding is fixed with Christmas just gone and no further funding to cover the higher cost of care .  funding to cover the higher rates of holidays, and training while staff take holidays. 

In SAust there is no ability to get higher amounts of funding and Jo isn't able to work for income therefore voluntarily helps everyone .  All of Jo's family's reserves have been used up on previous financial years. Jo has reduced her care needs by $60k per year over the last three years by working hard on  improving her situation ,  but it isn't quite enough yet, which is why she asked for our help.    
 
Jo's MS is so severe that it can take an experienced helper 1 hour and a  junior 6 hours to put her to bed. Jo’s MS is unpredictable for example she lost her eyesight last weekend when things went wrong and she got stressed. 

Yet, Jo is still moving forward, creating disability design workshops voluntarily, standing in the last two elections voluntarily, helping mentor others voluntarily.

 We need to get together and do something for her, to cover her costs for her  basic care.
Imagine if she didn't have this care! How would she eat? How would she get in and out of bed, wash, shop for her basic needs, move, exercise, all the simple basic things we take for granted. Jo put herself out in public to provide some understanding of the story from a patients’ perspective. The story has had amazing response. Anyone that has seen just one of the improvements in Jo's since contact will support her in every way that they can. 
Joanne was living a full and involved life in 2003 when she was diagnosed with MS yet now 2015 such a contrast. Only 18 months ago she was told she would need to move into a nursing home because there wasn’t anywhere she could live within the government housing system, and because her care requirements regarding hours are at the top end of what the government consider ‘good value’ to be in the community.  Jo is just 49 years old, she fought this publicly by going to the press and secondly, running for state and local government elections in 2014.  By bringing awareness to the realities of living in the state of south Australia with disability and illness she is making people''s challenges and vulnerabilities more public to get those that are make the funding situations more aware. Jo was then homeless in 2014 for 3 months, living in friend’s lounge rooms, when finally a property became available for her 12 months ago. Joanne continued to keep living in the power of now! And is an amazing role model. PLEASE LET’S GIVE HER THE SUPPORT SHE IS FINALLY ASKING.  

Thank you from Ann Muckersie,  Carol Fudali and  Chantelle Hancock.

Bio of Jo Blesing Written by Elisa 

2005
Jo now completely withdrew from all social interaction purely and simply for the purpose of personal survival. She lost everything but not her smile.




2008
Jo became very ill and found herself in intensive care for a period of 5 weeks, it was the belief and expectation of the experts that she would be sent to a nursing home as they did not expect her to recover.  Jo would quite happily have chosen a firing squad over the latter.  Fortunately however, her desire for a better outcome along with the support and sponsorship of friends, she bypassed both and went to Brazil for healing instead, in order to become strong enough to keep fighting.


2010
Through her desire for personal growth and change, not only did Jo achieve the above, she also managed to acquire for herself a voluntary lecturing role at Adelaide University this being her first step in the direction of social reintegration.
This year started as a year of waiting - waiting for a chair, waiting for a lifter, waiting for a bike, waiting to get better, waiting for some change in her funding,  finances, social and work life. Her health took a massive downturn for many months where the pain and sensitivity became unbearable again, and experts could not assist. Through the carers help and persistence, and Jo's pure willpower, Jo continues to empower herself and others. 

"I want to impart this knowledge and belief to others that may enjoy this aspect of life".



Thank you from Ann, Carol and Chantelle.