May 24, 2012
GALLIA COUNTY, Ohio (WSAZ) -- The state budget is set and painful cuts are now a bitter reality in Ohio.
In Gallia County, those cuts mean some of the most vulnerable may fall through the cracks.
At the Department of Job and Family Services, 40% of the staff will be cut- that means 21 out of 51 employees are getting pink slips. It also means an entire division, devoted to protecting the elderly, is now gone.
“One is 89 and one is 70. She collects rain water and this is how they wash and what they bathe in. They cook with this and wash with this. They do buy jugs when they can afford it,” said Tande Rose with the Gallia County Adult Protective Services.
The couple WSAZ spoke with agreed to share their story, but not their identity. To many, their living situation will seem appalling. To them, its life and they don’t want anyone bothering them about it.
“I don’t want no new house. I don’t need no new house. All I need is a roof over my head and some food to eat,” said the 89-year-old man.
This man lives with his friend, who is 70, in a trailer in rural Gallia County.
“I sleep right there in the corner and I take a bath by buying extra jugs of water and heating it up,” said the 70-year-old woman.
The Department of Job and Family Services discovered the couple’s extreme living conditions pretty much by accident.
“She told her caseworker, I don’t have enough food, we have no running water and we’re burning up. He came to me for help and I came out to visit,” said Rose.
Rose is the Gallia County Adult Protective Services agency. She’s a one-woman division under the Department of Job and Family Services devoted to helping the most vulnerable of citizens, but that is about to end.
“This home and this couple break my heart because as of this week, I will no longer be able to provide services because I’ve received a pink slip,” Rose said.
It comes at the worst time. Rose says this is one of the worst cases of elderly living in deplorable conditions she’s seen.
“I know these are mandated cuts from Ohio. I just want the people of Gallia County, the elected officials from the state down to see how these people are living so we can get some kind of programs to help them,” said Rose.
As a last act, Rose was able to provide some food and an air conditioning unit donated by Triad, but she says there is much more she would like to be able to do for the couple.
“I would be able to go to her physician to get home health services, I would make referral to passport, go to some ministerial associations to see if we could get roof and floor repairs and most importantly, get them running water,” said Rose.
It’s a case of where pride and need collide creating a desperate situation that may no longer receive the attention it deserves.
The Gallia County Sheriff's Department will now handle any elderly abuse or neglect cases adding to their already overflowing plates.
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