I had the unfortunate opportunity to do a walk-thru on a home today that was quite the shocker.
The resident has recently been moved to a nursing home. I was asked to do a valuation on the property for the fiduciary. I picked up the key and pulled up to the house which looked relatively normal on the outside. I walked up the front steps, unlocked the door and walked inside. I can’t begin to describe what I saw and above all smelled when I stepped inside. If you could just take a moment and let your mind wander and envision your reaction if someone had numerous cat litter boxes that had not been cleaned for perhaps months. Then I want you to pretend in your mind that you were the world’s smallest person just tall enough to peek over the boxes and take a real good whiff. Oh Mercy! I thought I was going to drop to my knees. I didn’t make it completely through the home because I was beginning to feel woozy from the smell and my eyes were starting to burn. The animals that lived with that person must have had free reign of the house and sprayed and dirtied anywhere and everywhere.
This made me think of how many people there are living in the United States that don’t have relatives, friends or neighbors that do welfare checks. Older people who are living alone tend to draw inward due to the fears of being taken advantage of by all the “terrible” people out there that they read about and see on the television. The more they draw inward, the more the justify the condition of their surroundings. It is a trade off for them. They either live with the status quo as they believe it to be or take their chances with the “evil” outside world. I do hope more and more people will learn to take the time to step out of their own personal circles and check to see what’s happening in the world around them. Perhaps there is someone under the radar close to them that really does need help.
