Her Nashville neighbors really love her and would hate to see her lose her impressive garden and her life-long home. So when “Miss Anita,” of South Inglewood, received a notice that her home was about to be sold at auction because she got behind on her mortgage, her neighbors organized and raised the cash that she needed to get current on her loan — and then some.
Miss Anita has early stage Alzheimer’s and had been forgetting to pay the bills at times, and had little more than a bit of Social Security to pay them with anyways. She had also been living for months with no running water and no electricity, as those had been shut off as well. So her caring next door neighbor, Sara Jean Schweitzer, set up a GoFundMe campaign to raise enough funds to help Miss Anita get the bank off her back. The neighbors responded en masse, which allowed them to turn the water back on as well.
The situation is still dire, though. Ms. Schweitzer wrote,
She is still in need of: electricity, gas, a conservator to help manage her finances (I’ve been doing this for the past few weeks and it’s a full time job), and a home caregiver to check on her and take her to the doctor. She will also need more money to fix the state of her house, to pay pay [sic] her monthly bills, mortgage, garden supplies, and the care of her animals.
Some neighbors were a little more skeptical, though. While showing support, at least one neighbor asked via the hyper-local social networking site Nextdoor, “What happens next month when she doesn’t pay again?” Another concerned neighbor commented on the GoFundMe page, “My question though is what is gonna stop her from getting back into debt once this is paid?? She needs long term care!!” Ms. Schweitzer responded on Nextdoor, “I’m working on getting her a conservator to help keep track of her bills and get her affairs in order.”
But for now, Miss Anita will be able to tend her own garden, something that helps bring peace to her life.
Good for you Ms Schweitzer