A distressed 91-year-old New Philadelphia woman needed food. Here's how police responded.

Nancy Molnar, The Times-Reporter
·2 min read
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NEW PHILADELPHIA ‒ A 91-year-old woman, confused and alone, put two notes in her mailbox. She wrote that she was hungry and needed food.

A mail carrier spotted the notes and set in motion a multiagency response to get the woman help.

Here's what happened:

The mail carrier relayed the information to another postal worker, who called New Philadelphia police Monday afternoon. She asked them to check on the resident's welfare.

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Officer Mark Sadolsky found that the woman inside the home seemed forgetful. She could not tell him the last time she ate. He said the home, located near downtown, had no water service or phone. There was a case of bottled water, but she could not remember who brought it to her.

Police went to the woman's home again Monday afternoon − this time carrying bread, applesauce, peanut butter, soft fruit and vegetable juice for her.

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Adult Protective Services gets involved

Sadolsky also spoke with officials at Adult Protective Services of Tuscarawas County Job & Family Services, who indicated the agency is familiar with her. He also called Paula Lancaster, the community care coordinator at the New Philadelphia Fire Department.

Lancaster, who was scheduled to visit the woman's home Tuesday afternoon, said the resident would be evaluated to determine whether she is able to take care of herself. If a doctor says she cannot, a guardian would be appointed for her. While a resolution is pending, Lancaster said she and Adult Protective Services will partner to monitor her welfare.

"I'll check on her, they'll check in on her," Lancaster said. "We'll try to find other people that might be friends, family, next of kin, anything like that. If not ... I'll go to the food bank and get her some stuff."

Lancaster said she will ask the water department about the woman's service, and if the account is delinquent, look for ways to get service restored, such as having a church pay a past-due bill.

"There are services out there," Lancaster said. "Maybe she wants to go to a nursing home or an assisted living and has no clue how to do that. I can help her do that, too."

She recalled a similar case she handled about a year after joining the fire department in January 2020.

"It did take us about three months to do the process. In the end, we did get her guardianship. We did get her into an assisted living."

Reach Nancy at 330-364-8402 or nancy.molnar@timesreporter.com.

On Twitter: @nmolnarTR

This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: New Philadelphia PD buys food for 91-year-old who left note in mailbox