I am writing you to share my extreme gratitude for Ms. J. Harrison in your office. I have been working through the various systems of assistance on behalf of my friend of forty years, (client name). (Client), age 74, has developed dementia/Alzheimer’s and has no family able to assist her, so I have become her Power of Attorney. She also suffers from severe psoriatic arthritis, hypertension and sleep apnea.
When I recently moved to Santa Barbara where (client) lives, (client) had suffered a very difficult period of-time. All of her family lives in Baltimore. She had recently had an abrupt loss of her long-term relationship, which left he without a means of support, and her favorite aunt had just died. Her sister has a brain injury on top of advanced Alzheimer’s and lives in a memory unit. Her brother has COPD and mental illness. There is no family able to assist (client) in any way.
Just to make a bad situation worse, (client) suffers from long-term Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from the most disturbing and damaging child sexual abuse from her father from age five through eleven. She also suffers from severe anxiety attacks and depression. Thankfully, I was able to get her psychiatric help and she is doing much better.
She is bright, well-educated and charming. She is always upbeat when with new people and I have never met anyone who did not think of her as sweet, kind, and friendly. This has helped in my efforts to secure her subsidized housing at Garden Court Apartments in Santa Barbara. She is so socially adept, that her visiting nurse and physical therapist did not even recognize her cognitive issues for three visits until I intervened. They just thought she had some memory loss due to aging.
I have shared all of this with you so that you would better understand the complexities of caring for (client). I have tried to learn the ins and outs of all of the systems but being new to California and not a social service professional, it has been difficult. With COVID-19, it has been near impossible to reach live human beings, or people who would respond to my messages. I was given quite the run-around while I tried diligently to meet every requirement. Until I found Ms. Harrison.
Ms. Harrison has truly been an angel to us. (Client) had been denied Medi-Cal due to her above limits in her bank accounts, and with Ms. Harrison’s help and insight, we have learned how to appropriately spend down and reapplied. Ms. Harrison simplified the process by letting me know exactly what forms to fill out, and more importantly, which to skip. She told me exactly what documents to provide as well as the ins and outs of the banking system.
What Ms. Harrison really did, was support me in my efforts. She resolved a problem with (client’s) EBT card in two minutes and I received what I needed three days later. I had been working months on the issue. I felt all alone in taking such a big responsibility of taking care of my old friend who was losing her cognitive capacity and Ms. Harrison made it clear that I was not alone. She gave me her direct phone line and always called me back in a few hours. She let me know she had my back.
Ms. Harrison has been a precious gem. I am deeply appreciative.
Thank you for your attention.
--(Client's Authorized Representative).