The Forgotten Elderly

When my mother and I signed up to deliver Meals on Wheels, we told the director we specifically wanted a route where people especially needed extra help.

There was a slum neighborhood with run down houses that they had a very hard time finding drivers who would deliver there, because it was so dangerous. Most residents were the working poor, the disabled and elderly. Druggies and homeless were wandering around everywhere, and that neighborhood was one of those that experienced random shootings. The director asked if we would be willing to deliver there. We said YES! That’s exactly what we were looking for!

It was heartbreaking.

The elderly got very small SS checks because they had never made much. Some of them were not getting enough to eat. So we began carrying sacks of groceries to them. One case in particular haunts my thoughts.

It was a small apartment building: old, but it looked well maintained. I found the door with the apartment number that matched the one on the delivery list. As soon as I knocked, I heard a frantic voice begin calling from inside. “I’m coming! Please don’t leave!” The panicked tone alarmed me.

The door opened, and an elderly woman faced me. “What’s wrong?”, I asked. “I couldn’t get to the door fast enough yesterday and they left. I had nothing to eat yesterday”. Now I was even more alarmed.

My mother and I were together, I told her. We needed to finish the route, but could we come see her afterwards? She eagerly accepted. When we came back a little later, the entire story came out.

She had one family member only: an adult daughter. That daughter had been helping her out, until she was in a car accident and sustained brain damage so severe that she had to go into a nursing home. There were no other relatives.

It took almost the entire SS check of this elderly lady to pay her rent (electric and water were included). A kind neighbor carried her to her doctor appointments. Once a month, after the rent was paid, that same neighbor took her to the store where she could fill her prescriptions, and then use the leftover money for buying whatever else she needed. The amount left was between $10 and $20. This meager allowance had to cover food and everything else she needed.

My mother and I went into the kitchen and looked around. There wasn’t a crumb of food anywhere. The cupboards and refrigerator were completely empty.

She had a stove, but she was afraid to use it due to mobility issues and almost complete blindness. She had a microwave she could use, but seldom had anything to cook in it.

We told her we were going to leave for a short while and come back with some groceries. She almost burst out crying with gratitude.

My mother and I went to a nearby grocery store. We got things like microwaveable soup bowls, TV dinners, fruit cups, crackers, and anything else that would be easy to prepare and eat.

We went back with the food, and she was so overcome with emotion, she could barely speak.

We carried groceries to her every week after that, and she never went hungry again.

How many thousands of elderly and disabled are in similar situations, with no relief? Have you checked on your own elderly neighbors? Please do so. Some of them may need help, and you may be their saving grace.