The sound of my mother being verbally abused
by my sister when she was trying to reach me on the phone and
did not realize that my answering machine had picked up.
The following morning, after receiving
this message and determining that an emergency did not in fact
exist (after calling back my mother and speaking to my sister
later that afternoon) I arrived at my mother's house and found
her abandoned by my sister who had left for Binghamton around 8
PM the previous evening. I made a simple repair to the heating
system while my wife fed and cleaned up my mother (who I found
had been sitting in her wheel chair in a badly soiled pull-up at
her kitchen table all night).
Looking around my mother's house I was
appalled to discover the following conditions:
1) A flimsy home-made plywood ramp siting precariously on
cinder blocks.
2) A ratchiting chain fall installed over the toilet in the
bathroom.
4) Some type of strange religious writing painted in large
letters on my mother's bathroom wall.
At this point,
(Thursday November 19, 2015) I determined that I would be
staying at my mother's house to provide the 24 hour care she
needed, and my wife left to pick up some of my clothing and to
do some food shopping since there were only some unopened
meals on wheels dinners in the refrigerator and my mother
informed me that she had primarily been eating instant mash
potatoes and baby food cereal made with milk.
Around mid-day I received a call from
the Volunteers of America that they were sending out two
social workers to check on my mother because they received a
call (apparently from one of my sisters) that there was no
heat in my mother's house. They arrived about 15 minutes
later. I showed them that the heat had been restored
earlier, showed them the pump coupling that had been replaced,
and demonstrated to them that the radiators were quite warm
and assured them that the house never went below 70 degrees.
I explained that my sister had left
my mother unattended, and showed them the objects depicted in
the pictures above. I further assured them that my
mother would not be left alone and that I would try to arrange
to hire a live in 24 hour healthcare aide. They were
satisfied but insisted that they must file a report with Adult
Protective Services because my mother had been left alone and
a no heat complaint had been filed. I had no objection
and welcomed any help they or APS could provide. They
spoke with my mother and my mother assured them that she was
content with the care she was receiving from me and my wife.
After the social workers left we
discussed with my mother the care she needed (over dinner) and
asked about how to bathe her. She told us (my wife and
me) that Lola (a health care aide either my sisters or my
niece had hired for 4 hours a week) would be coming Friday
evening and that Lola would bathe her.
The following morning, Marina
Potashnik, a supervisor from APS arrived at the house and
spoke briefly with my mother (after I woke her, she was still
in bed) and my wife and I showed Ms. Potashnik the conditions
we observed and explained our situation and our immediate
plans to her. She told us that APS would begin a
guardianship proceeding for my mother but since that would
probably take 6 or more months it might be better if I
initiated the proceeding myself.
Later that day, the health care aide
arrived and I asked my mother where the shower bench was (it
was always left in the tub previously) and my mother said that
my sister had thrown it out. (I later found it dumped upside
down in the yard near the garage.) My mother was incapable of
stepping over the side of the tub and used to sit on the bench
seat and swing her legs (with assistance) into the tub.
The health care aide told us that my niece used to help her
get my mother into and out of the tub (but my niece had left
at the end of October) so my wife assisted Lola lifting my
mother into and out of the tub. After my mother was
cleaned up and returned to her wheelchair, My wife and I
explained to Lola our situation, (as it was obvious that my
mother liked and trusted Lola), and asked Lola if she might be
able to care for my mother full time. She informed us
that she might be available but would have to check with her
agency and get back to us.
For the next few days, things progressed
well, I toileted my mother and did laundry and administered
her medications, while my wife cooked and shopped and kept my
mother occupied with comforting conversation. My wife
checked in every other day with APS to report on my mother's
condition and care.
The following Tuesday Lola called and said
she would be available to stay as a live-in aide as of
Thursday night which we also reported to APS. Once Lola
started, we set her up sleeping arraignments. Lola would
stay with my mother at night while I went home, and I or my
wife would return in the morning to feed my mom and administer
her medications. I would stay during the daytime to
allow Lola to get some sleep. Lola was able to take over
some cleaning and cooking chores while my wife and I would do
food shopping and laundry.
All seemed to be going well until Saturday
November 28, 2015. On that day my mother called my
sister in Binghamton, NY and the following transpired during
the call:
Click here for a
link to a short video file.
Then (if necessary) click the back arrow on your browser to
return here.
In this video my
mother is sitting in her wheelchair in front of the TV in
her living room, talking to my sister (on the phone) in
Binghamton. I noticed my mother getting extreamly
aggitated during the call and recorded this clip on my
cellphone.
After this call, I tried to calm
my mother down and when she settled down my wife and I
asked her what happened. She told us that my sister
told her that a siding contractor was coming either
Tuesday or Wednesday to begin stripping the siding off her
house and that she should not allow me to interfere with
the work. My mother told us that my sister signed a
contract and that she was powerless to stop the job
because Cecilia (my sister) told her that Ed Walker M.D.
(my other sister Becky's) husband was paying for the
work. She said she did not want the work done and
that Cecilia would not even let her choose the color
scheme. I told my mom to relax and I would see what
I could do about this matter.
Looking through some records I
found in a folder in my mothers kitchen, I found a
contract for siding with a vendor named Robert
Volpe. The contract was signed A. Ferrando and my
mother said that that was the way Cecilia was signing her
credit card receipts. Evidently as I later
discovered, my sister had been going on a ten month
shopping spree charging it all to my mother's credit
card. Vitually none of the purchases (which totaled
$3,000.00 to $4,000.00 per month were for my mother or her
care. Previous to my sisters arrival my mother's
credit card bill was less than $1,000.00 a month and
usually much less than that. There I found a charge
of $5,000.00 (as a down payment) to Mr. Volpe's
company. The total for the siding job was to be
$28,500.00 according to the contract.
I composed the following letter
to Mr. Volpe and my wife faxed it to his place of business
the next day (Sunday):
Affordable Home Improvements
84 Almond Street
Staten Island, NY 10312
November 28, 2015
Dear Mr. Volpe,
I am Charles Ferrando, son of Adele Ferrando who is
the owner of 52 Clinton Place. I have been managing
my mother’s care as of November 19th because my
sister, Cecilia Nicholas, who’s behavior indicates
mental illness, abandoned her after assuming
responsibility for her care upon her discharge from
Seaview Rehabilitation in January, 2015.
It has come to my attention that you are in contract
for $28,500.00 to replace the siding on 52 Clinton
Place. My mother is now the subject of the New York
City, Human Resources Administration, Dept. of
Social Services Adult Protective services
guardianship proceeding and all of her finances are
going to be reviewed by the court to determine if
she was capable to make decisions regarding her
finances and her needs. She has expressed to me,
repeatedly, severe reservations about having her
house resided because she was pressured by my sister
(who abandoned her) to accept a color scheme that is
not to her liking and pressured by my sister to
accept an unnecessary residing of her house. In
addition, she has been led to believe that she is
not financially responsible for this siding job
because she was told by my sister, Cecilia, who you
were obviously dealing with, that the work was going
to be paid for by, Dr. Edward Walker, of Florida, my
other sister’s husband.
My mother is under the impression that the work will
begin the week of November 30th. My mother is
extremely agitated as the result of her abandonment
by my sister and the prospect of an unwanted and
unneeded residing of her home. My mother’s mental
and physical well being is my primary concern. In
addition, since all financial matters regarding my
mother will have to be reviewed by a court appointed
guardian, there is a serious question as to whether
you would ever receive payment for your work. Even
if my brother inlaw, Dr. Edward Walker, does agree
to pay for this work, given that my mother has
repeatedly expressed strong reservations about
having this work done and she is the sole owner of
this house,then only upon court review, could the
work be allowed. For the health and welfare of my
mother, and in your own best business interests, I
strongly suggest that you delay the start of any
work regarding the siding of this house. My mother
cannot be further emotionally distressed in this
matter at this time, and hearing the workman
starting work that she doesn’t approve of may cause
her severe harm. Someone from the court appointed
Guardian’s office will contact you in the near
future to inform you if and when any work can be
performed on this home. We, may wish to employ you
in the future, to do other, more necessary
improvements inside of the home to better
accommodate her changing needs in her old age.
Thank you for your understanding in this matter.
Sincerely,
I had
learned from my mother and other sister that Cecilia had
been arrested in Binghamton, NY and taken to
"behavioral" several years ago and that she later
brought a lawsuit against the Binghamton Police
Department (which she lost in court). A simple
google search revealed the following:
Mr. Volpe
called me that Monday and told me that he had indeed
planned to start work on my mother's house that
week. He said he was unaware of the situation
and had never met my mother, nor had he ever spoken
to anyone other than my sister regarding this
work. He stated that my sister took the
contract into the house and returned a minute or two
later with it signed and presented it to him.
He agreed to delay any work at that time as he
wanted his clients to be happy with his work.
I told my mother that the
siding job had been put on hold and she was relieved
and grateful.