This website is dedicated to the memory of my mother who was the victim of elder abuse for the last two years of her life.
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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:
2) A ratchiting chain fall installed over the toilet in the bathroom.
3) Some type of "INVACARE" lift in my mother's bedroom.
4) Some type of strange religious writing painted in large letters on my mother's bathroom wall.
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:
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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:
I told my mother that the siding job had been put on hold and she was relieved and grateful.