BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) – Evan LaPointe holds many fond memories of his foster grandmother, Audrey Roberts, caring for him when he was a child.
Now as a young man of 21, he is trying to help Roberts, 104, remain in her Park Street home. As of recently, she outlived her entire life savings of $180,000. LaPointe started a GoFundMe account and hopes Roberts’ story on the crowd funding website will touch the hearts of the people who read her story.
Roberts worked hard her entire life, first in a commercial laundry facility for 32 years and later in nutrition at the County Hospital, which eventually became The Medical Center. The former Richardsville farm girl began her working life making 10 cents an hour. She worked 10-hour days to earn a dollar a day.
Roberts married, had a son, saved her money and paid cash for her home, all $5,000 of it. Her only child, a son, was killed in a car accident on a snowy night when he was 21 years old, and her husband died decades ago. Her only living sibling, a brother, is 99 years old.
Roberts receives $970 a month in Social Security. Her mind is sharp. Her vision and hearing are that of a person half a century younger. Her grip is strong but her mobility requires that she have around-the-clock care that costs $1,680 a week. Without caregivers, she would be forced out of her tiny three-room home into a nursing home, the one place she doesn’t want to be, ever.