Help Elderly in Need of Urgent Care
January 1, 2012
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In a thunderstorm, I drove over the tracks through an area in Selma once called, "shanty town," because the rundown houses with leaning roofs are the homes of the poor, many of them sick, elderly and living alone. As in many other towns in Alabama, the dividing line between comfort and poverty is usually the train tracks.
It gripped my heart to see the cold rain dripping over Jim King's decaying front porch, leaving soggy, unsafe boards. But the second I walked through the screen door, the drastic reality of an old man lying in his hospital bed in the musty, humid darkness was almost too much to bear.
In his living room, Jim's bed was surrounded by electronic medical devices that help him live through yet another day. Years of dusty clutter covered every space not taken up by machines. Martha, his full-time caregiver, and I cleared off a sagging chair and she turned on a bare lamp on the floor so that I could visit with the sick man.
I was told that Jim usually has a happy spirit but as soon as we spoke, he cried bitter tears as he described the past year. The love of his life, his loyal wife, Alice, died last Christmas. The home they once shared was then foreclosed because Jim could not make the payments. In and out of the hospital, he received some assistance from his son but with a family of his own, his boy couldn't meet his father's many needs. Jim would like to move to a nursing home but a $7,000 past due bill that wasn't covered under Medicaid has proven an impassible hurdle.
As we talked, I saw his eyes light up when he described the Edmundite Missions, "A Christian organization that don't mind helping old folks." The Mission has helped Jim with his utilities, often over $300 due to the medical equipment. Sister Margaret brings lunch from the Bosco Nutrition Center every day for Jim and Martha, his caregiver, who stays with him every day and night, seven days a week. The meals are a huge help because the poor woman is exhausted and at her limit with her own family to care for one block over.
Jim is living so deeply in poverty, he must choose between paying his bills and paying Martha's small salary, even though he desperately needs to keep the electricity on and to pay for full-time care to survive. The light disappears from his eyes and he grows solemn when he tells me, "If it wasn't for the Mission, I couldn't make it."
This month Jim faces a grim choice. His electricity bill is past due and the power is scheduled to be turned off in a matter of days. Jim is not alone. There are many in Selma and the surrounding counties like him who struggle to pay for the basic necessities of life to survive. The Missions, following Christ's example of love for the poor through service, provides hundreds of life saving meals every week at Bosco.
Due to the importance of the Lord's work, I come to you once again in our time of need. Providing urgent help for elderly shut-ins, working mothers with young children and the sick and homeless is a necessity. Please help me to pay a portion of Jim King's past due electricity bill of $310. For the month of January, it will cost $30,970 to purchase nutritious food and pay the bills needed to care for the hungry at Bosco. In the middle of these damp, cold months when illness is common, these nutritious meals are more vital than ever!
Christ offered us the greatest proof of sacrifice and love. I pray every day that God will bless you for following His example through your loving, faithful gifts to the Edmundite Missions. With hundreds of hungry, suffering people to feed, many of whom are aged and handicapped, we desperately need your help at this critical time.
Let us remember the words of Mother Teresa who said, "Remember that nothing and no one is small in the eyes of God. Do all that you do with love."
Serving the Lord,
Rev. Richard Myhalyk, S.S.E.
