LAURIE daughter of FLORA
Flora, an 82-year-old Alzheimers patient, who sold radio and print media for 20 years About five years ago my mother started getting lost near her house and
was diagnosed with Alzheimers. My three sisters and I have been paying for
her medication, which is $1,000 a month, and her Alzheimers facility, which
is $3,200 a month, and we needed help.
I’m in media, too, and I used to go to the BAARC Bash; a BAARC founder was
once my boss. I thought it was a wonderful organization, but I never thought
of it in terms of myself and my family. Then I was telling a friend of mine
on the board about my expenses and she said, “Your mother was in the media,
why don’t you contact BAARC?”
Soon after I called, a BAARC volunteer set up a meeting. We met in a little
café with our paperwork. The application is quite detailed, but he was very
specific. He told me exactly what to do and made it so simple.
It felt great. It was wonderful. He had very sage advice.
A few days later, the board accepted the application. It became effective
the next month, so the timing was great, maybe six or seven weeks before
the benefits kicked in.
My family and my sisters have definitely scaled back to support my mom.
It’s added a frugal element to our lifestyles. My oldest sister in Alabama
had not been working and she got a job in a dress shop to cover her share
of Mom’s expenses.
I was thrilled when they accepted our application. All of a sudden from
out of nowhere this grant happens. My sisters were so appreciative. They
couldn’t believe that just because Mom was in advertising, she was able
to get this nice grant to live in this nice facility instead of a really
dreadful hospital.
The BAARC office staff are great. They really, really make it so user-friendly.
They know the person calling is having a hard time, so they’re very compassionate.
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