Elderly brother and sister face eviction after assisted living facility changes policy
In what was supposed to be their golden years, Jack and Diane lost their mom, their savings and their home.
Their family told Channel 9, the money they had saved was taken by one of their guardians, then another put a reverse mortgage on their house. And now they are losing their home again.
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The family said, they can live without a lot of money, but don’t know how to live without each other.
You see, Jack and Diane have lived in an assisted living facility since their mother died in 2017.
They love it, Diane and Jack Stein told Eyewitness News, “It’s great. it’s a good price. I’m an ambassador there. When somebody comes in the lodge, I get to work with them. My job is to make them feel at home. It is home. It’s always been home to me.”
The duo has never lived apart, but the family said they might have to now because Jack and Diane were behind on payments, because all they have left is their social security and Medicaid checks.
Back in 2019, their cousin David Brinkruff, showed us a letter from Osprey Loge that stated the siblings could stay for as long as they wanted if the debt was paid.
David and his sister paid the arrears so the two could stay, “It’s been a good thing for Jack and Diane. That facility is great for them. They’ve been caring and they’ve been able to do a lot of activities. So, it’s been it’s been really wonderful.”
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But just a few weeks ago, David got word that the offer has been rescinded and Jack and Diane must go. Brinkruff said, “We’ve been saying, Okay, I understand that, you know, there is an expense there, but you agreed that they could stay there for as long as they needed too and you are not now saying no.”
The company told Channel 9 it could not give us information on any residents or even tell us if the Stein’s live there, but said in a general statement, that the community stopped taking Medicaid in 2023. Sending us a statement that read in part, “...all residents whose care costs were previously paid/ supplemented by Medicaid funding were provided a significant amount of notice that we would not be continuing in the program and those participants were also provided substantial assistance in making arrangements to relocate to Medicaid participating communities in the area.”
Brinkruff said that during negotiations, the facility did offer some financial concessions, but still the cost was too high for their government checks and too expensive for Brinkhoff, who is retired to afford.
So now, Jack and Diane have until Feb. 17 to leave.
Brinkruff said, “So it’s just heartbreaking. Heartbreaking to see them in effect booted out.”
The family said it’s hard to keep them together, because Jack gets Medicaid and social security, but Diane only gets her SSI, making it hard to house them in a nice place together.
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