Ineligible for Reparations-Funded Welfare Assistance, a Mother and Daughter Struggle to Survive

Anna, born in 1913, was a teacher in her young years. She married, had three children and shared a happy life with her family in Vladivostok, Russia, prior to WWII. "My husband and I lived through everything together: war, grief, troubles, and happy days. A big part of me had left when he passed away," says Anna.

Since fracturing her hip four years ago, Anna has been bedridden at her home in Lvov, Ukraine. Now 91 years of age and suffering from myriad ailments including progressive deafness, blindness, and stomach problems, Anna is nonetheless spirited and optimistic. "My daughter is here with me. It gives me hope," she says. But her daughter, Raisa, is 67, and has health issues of her own that make looking after her mother no small challenge.

Together the women receive five hours of Home Care per week from the JDC-sponsored Hesed welfare center. On a combined monthly income of just over $10 – after their rent and some medications have been paid for – they struggle to purchase food and necessities such as diapers for Anna – amenities which Hesed can no longer provide due to budget cuts for welfare clients who are not deemed Victims of Nazi Persecution. "Somehow we need to live until our next pension payment and not to fall ill; medications are too expensive," says Raisa.

With a shortage of funding, JDC is limited in the services that it can provide to lonely and isolated elderly who, like Anna and Raisa, do not qualify for the status of Victims of Nazi Persecution. The women continue to benefit from food packages, medical equipment loans plus the Moked program – which repairs vital items such as hearing aids and other small household appliances – but are no longer eligible for other assistance, including medications or hygienic supplies. Additional Home Care hours are impossible – as is the purchase of a $100 hearing aid for Anna to communicate with her daughter – due to the shortage of funding for elderly who are from regions not occupied by the Nazis in WWII.

Despite these hardships, Raisa is grateful for JDC's help and looks forward to a brighter tomorrow. "Do you know what I pray for?" asks Raisa. "Please, let my mother live some more time. Her life is my life."