With all the negative news locally and around the world, it is easy to feel like we are living in a scary and sad place. Even the most optimistic individual can feel discouraged, trying to hold on to the last bit of happy thoughts. Still, there is a lot of good in this life. People who genuinely care about the well-being of complete strangers. All we need is one person to start an act of kindness and the rest will follow.Since she was 105 she has been living at the Sunrise on the Scioto in Columbus, Ohio. Her daughter Susan Hatfield, however, realized money was running out. “To put it delicately, I didn’t know she would live to be 108, and towards the end of last year, I knew she was getting low on funds,” Hatfield said.
Raush was practically living off her retirement reserve and the sale of her house. “She was 105 when she left our childhood home. She lived in the same home since she was married, the home where she raised her family until she was 105,” Hatfield admits.
“I knew at the time that they didn’t accept Medicaid, but the facility was one she was familiar with. Another family member had been there, and she used to visit,” Hatfield said about keeping her mom at Sunrise on the Scioto. “It’s close to all of the family. I decided to move her there, knowing that ultimately they didn’t accept Medicaid.”
When a local news station did a story on Rausch, people all over the country began donating for her assisted living costs. So far they have raised $56,000, meaning the 108-year-old can continue living there. For Hatfield it’s not just about her mom getting the financial help she needs. “At this time, when there is so much hostility and division and self-centeredness in the country, that this many people can show care for a total stranger, this renews my faith that humans are good. That has been amazing for my whole family,” she says.
The GoFundMe page will be open for a little bit longer to cover next year’s cost. Whatever does not get used by Rausch will be donated to her church.
