Three years ago, Janice Gayhart struggled to get by. An Ohio landlord had hiked her monthly rent up by $200, amenities in her trailer were breaking down and a recent knee replacement surgery set her health and finances back.
Then, a serious fall prompted her move from Ohio to Indiana. Though the circumstances were less than ideal, they provided a pathway for Janice to eventually get connected to Gleaners’ services. Today, she says those services have helped turn her life and health around for the better.
In her own words, this is Janice’s story.
“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”
The last two months before my fall, I was paying $500 a month in rent. The new owners went from $300-something to $500 a month, and it was hard for me to pay it.
So the rent went up before I fell, and different things like my knee replacement were happening that made my bills hard to pay.
I fell on a Friday. It was around 1 o’clock in the afternoon.
I went in the bathroom, because little tiny ants were getting in through my bathtub and it needed caulking. So, I went out and bought a little bit of caulking and was sitting on the edge of the bathtub and, the next thing I knew, I went over.
My head hit the back of the wall, and there I am laying there thinking, “What am I going to do now?” So, I tried to move my legs around until I could try to get on my knees, but you can’t get on a plastic knee. It hurts too much, because that’s all plastic.
So, there I am trying to figure out how to climb out of the tub because it was close to the toilet, but I couldn’t get my arm over far enough to lift me.
Janice Gayhart, 87, utilizes Gleaners2Go services provided out of Neighborhood Health Center in Liberty, Indiana.
After a little while, I gave up, and I said, “Well, I’ll just start hollering.” But it didn’t do any good. The doors were closed, and the more I yelled and hollered, all I got was a sore throat, you know, losing my voice.
I was there from Friday until Wednesday afternoon.
My mailman finally heard me crying, called the police and he had them break down the door. I ended up staying in the hospital for 14 days, including four days on different floors, trying to get me walking again.
After that, my sister-in-law said, “You’re not staying here.” So, I moved to Indiana.
My nieces and nephews all came to my trailer. They packed everything up in almost two days of packing and moved me up here.
I’ve been here almost three years now, and it was about a year ago I started getting help from Gleaners. But it’s a big help because a lot of the food and stuff I can eat.
I get meats and things. They sometimes give me eggs because, you know, the stores are a little expensive. And I need two eggs daily for protein.
On my health insurance, they only give me $97 a month and one bag of food. It’s gone fast. So, I’m grateful for what I get from Gleaners because it gets me along. It keeps me from having to buy a lot of groceries, and I can buy stuff to take care of my clothes, dishes and things like that. And those are not cheap. I’ve learned that over the last few years. I also get a little meat and that comes in handy.
I appreciate everything Gleaners does. If it wasn’t for them, I couldn’t be here at all. I’d be on the streets.
For someone like me, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. I really do.
