I am not a caregiver in this case. I am a concerned and frustrated neighbor. I live in Philadelphia in a connected home. My neighbor is about 80 y/o. She is a hoarder and I suspect she has dementia. She wails loudly all night long and it is affecting our sleep. Sometimes, late at night she sits on our attached porch, half-dressed, with urine running down the sidewalk.
I used to feel compassion but she has been so mean and verbally abusive to us that most compassion is gone.
She has standing water in her backyard that she willfully refuses to dump, and we are now seeing cockroaches in our home. She has a leaking roof which also affects the entire row of homes. She hates us and won’t allow us on her property to fix some damage on our home, caused by her neglect, which is causing one of our interior walls to disintegrate.
She he has a daughter and son who want nothing to do with her. The neighbors and I have called the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging, the police, the fire department and Licenses and Inspections and they won’t do anything. Some say they cannot enter her home. She is quite canny and lucid during the day and will make it sound like she is a pillar of society and that we are filled with hate and anger at this poor old woman.
We can’t even consider moving until we are able to fix our home.
It is 3am and I am at my wits end at the wailing and moaning. Thanks for letting me vent about this woman with grown children who won’t get her the help she needs.
http://www.dhs.pa.gov/citizens/reportabuse/dhsadultprotectiveservices/
(abuse includes neglect, by the way).
As you have already chased your tail down a number of blind alleys, you'd better get your evidence together first so that you don't get dismissed as a disgruntled neighbour.
Take photographs of the dilapidation to her home, and the standing water.
Record the night time concerts from your side of the wall (of course!).
Keep a journal of incidents for, say, one week.
Write a summary giving dates, contacts and details of the history of the problem so that APS can see how it's developed.
If this still doesn't start the ball rolling, you and your other affected neighbours are possibly going to have to start an action for nuisance. That might concentrate those children's minds, but let's hope it won't become necessary.
You can share the info with adult protective to initiate work you need to do around your own house where it relates to her property. Hopefully, it will move forward from there.
All entities, and especially any that are political need a clear record of who you called, when you called. So if you need to call them again, do so and start your diary. You need to tell politicians that you will be going to Newspapers with how you tried to get help for your neighbor and were unable. This would allow family a suit against the city should she burn down her house with herself in it.
You need to be clear on issues they will respond to. They are basically safety and anything that could leave them with cost and legal issues. Not complaints about noise. When she is shrieking at night, call the police. Keep careful records. Get as many involved as you are able.
So sorry. Sounds a nightmare!
Send your video to Fox29... call the Northeast Times, have other neighbors on the block call.... especially if there’s a half - naked woman urinating in public on your street!
Your quality of life is compromised. I’d talk to her kids and see if they have a plan. Ask them for a meeting. Tell them your concerns. They might agree completely with you and the other neighbors. They might feel
as if their hands are tied as well.
I wish you the best!