Desperate times call for desperate measures. And for one local woman, determined to ensure that her aging parents receive quality medical care, desperation is taking her halfway around the world to the war-torn country of Afghanistan.
With her parents caught in the middle class Catch-22 dilemma of being unable to afford the cost of decent medical care, yet also ineligible for any form of elder-care assistance, Jean Rosalia recently resigned from her position as an Indian River County Sheriff’s Deputy to take a job with a private contractor to provide security to Americans remaining in Afghanistan.
As her emotions bubble to the surface, Rosalia explains, “I have to do whatever I need to do to make sure they’re taken care of. At the end of the day, if I can make them as happy and comfortable and secure in their last years as they made me in my first years that’s all I want.”
Rosalia moved to Vero Beach eight years ago to be nearby after her mother began exhibiting symptoms of Alzheimer’s. Her father is now age 84 and mother 81. It wasn’t until about a year ago, when she began handling their finances and paying their bills, that she learned they were struggling financially.
“I started doing what I could do to lower the insurance on their home and car,” says Rosalia, noting that the home still has a mortgage and the car is 12 years old. “I just did whatever I could to reduce the money that had to go out every month. My dad is a vet and I got him going back to the V.A. and it significantly reduced the amount of money going out. The prescriptions are exorbitant.”
Things took a drastic turn for the worse when her father fell and broke the C2 vertebra in his neck, requiring a week in the hospital and a week in a rehabilitation facility.
“Which is also when I realized that their Medicare supplement, Freedom Health, was not going to send him to the best rehab place. They were only going to send him to get the least amount of care that they could legally pay for,” she says in disgust of the services rendered at the only facility covered by his plan.
“I called Medicare, I called Social Security; I called every agency that I could think to call. What it came down to is that my parents fell in that gap where they made just too much money to qualify for all the assistance that they truly needed, but nowhere near enough money to pay for the things that they needed. That was when I realized that I absolutely had to take this job overseas because it would enable me to pay for all the help that they’re going to need.”
Florida’s Community Care for the Elderly program is intended to assist seniors who increasingly find themselves in that situation, but according to its website, the only agency contracted to provide services in Indian River County is the Senior Resource Association.
Ideally Rosalia would like to keep her parents in their home and employ home health care, explaining that because of the Alzheimer’s her mother doesn’t do well in unfamiliar places. Financially it is also a better option, as her search for suitable assisted living facilities revealed prices starting at $4,000 per month.
“And that’s basically for a room – before they give you any assistance whatsoever.”
Separation is also not an option for the devoted pair, who met as young teenagers and will have been married 62 years this month.
So Rosalia applied for a security position, which pays roughly three times her current salary, after reading about it in a tactical publication. She leaves soon for training, where she will be briefed on her duties, before being shipped overseas.
“They pay a lot of money; you just have to qualify for it. That’s what stops many people from getting the jobs. They don’t have the background to qualify. I’m lucky enough to have a resume that will support me getting a job like this.”
While she has no military service, she does have tactical and specialized emergency response team training through law enforcement positions here and in Virginia. She also held a part-time job as an instructor at a Blackwater training facility in North Carolina.
“I spend half the time being excited and the other half being completely terrified,” she admits. “A little bit of the unknown always scares you; going to a completely different country, different culture. I guess it’s a little frightening. But I’m not looking at it like that. This is the opportunity of a lifetime.”
Even more than any trepidation over her own safety, Rosalia’s chief concern is not being able to just run right over if her parents need her. However, she says friends and colleagues have been extremely supportive and are willing to step in when needed. She will still be able to manage her parents’ finances online, and the company will fly her home for five weeks after each 15-week stint on duty.
“When I had my exit interview with the sheriff, I explained the reason why I had to leave. I guess generally they’re not too happy when you’re leaving to go to another job, but the sheriff understood that family comes first. I think it’s going to be fine.”