Workers Drop Everything to Care for Elderly Left Behind

When an assisted living home for the elderly in California shut down last fall, many of its residents were left behind, with nowhere to go.

Maurice Rowland, the cook, and Miguel Alvarez, the janitor, who were working there, stayed to take care of them. The pair quickly became round-the-clock caretakers.

”I would only go home for one hour, take a shower, get dressed, then be there for 24-hour days,” Alvarez told StoryCorps.

“My parents, when they were younger, they left me abandoned,” he said. “Knowing how they are going to feel, I didn’t want them to go through that.”

(LISTEN to their tale or READ the article from NPR)

Story tip – Althea Gonzalez and Barb Chap