The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, April 18, 2013 | 6 Spotlight "Connected to your Community" Laura Roberts (not her real name) is 63. After a career and marriage, she has Alzheimer disease and is being cared for by, and living with, her 85-year-old mother. The turn of events was unexpected and has left Laura, her mother and sister, both seniors, struggling to manage. Poverty not always about making bad decisions by David Lea and Julia Le Metroland West Media, Halton photo illustration by Nikki Wesley ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog) Poverty is not always about making bad decisions or financial mismanagement. Often people fall into poverty due to factors completely out of their control. Laura Roberts, 63, (names have been changed at individuals' requests) was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer disease and dementia and has been living in her 85-yearold mother Ida's Kerr Village area apartment since June. Laura's sister, Janet, told The Oakville Beaver in an interview that Laura was an incredibly bright woman who held a managerial position with IBM (International Business Machines) for more than 20 years. Life was good Laura had a 10-acre piece of land in Uxbridge, where she lived with her husband and enjoyed such pastimes as horseback riding. Over the past five years, however, family members started to notice a change in Laura. "There was something vacant about her when she came to visit," said Janet. "Last June, my mom had been talking to Part II my sister on the phone and invited her to come down for a week. She said she'd like to do that and so I said I'd go get her. I went to pick her up and what I found was absolutely frightening." Janet said her sister's home was a disaster as Laura's husband had apparently developed a hoarding compulsion to such a degree that the amount of garbage covering the floor almost prevented Janet from getting into the house. Amidst the squalor, Janet found her sister sitting on the couch, completely oblivious to all around her. "I told her I was packing a suitcase for her and told her, `You're coming to mom's,'" said Janet. "On the way down from Uxbridge, I spoke to her in the car and I asked if she was happy up there and she said, `No.'" It was eventually worked out that Laura Living in Poverty: A Special Report is a fourpart Metroland Halton Division series examining the complex issue of poverty in the affluent region's communities. The series examines those who find themselves struggling to survive and who face deprivation, exclusion and isolation as a result. It looks at poverty's multiple dimensions, those who deal with it on a daily basis, contributing factors and barriers, possible solutions and resources that can offer assistance. ting Ontario Works to chip in about $100 a month for Laura's care, but said it's not enough to cover her sister's expenses. Janet said she has applied for Canada Pension Plan disability benefits for Laura, but after two months, there is no word yet. Making ends meet "The $300 a month is a little bit of an assistance for my mom, but not a whole lot because my sister is also a smoker," said Janet. "If you don't buy her cigarettes, she gets really agitated. So after you do that, you've maybe got $100 left for groceries for the month." In addition to food expenses, there are dental expenses, clothing costs and more. All of this is a burden on the fixed incomes of Ida and Janet, who also recently retired. The experience, Janet said, can be a very isolating one. "We're struggling to make it all work," said Janet. "My mom does have a social life, but now if someone invites her to do something she has to consider whether she can pay for my sister as well because she can't leave her on her own. I notice that when my sister comes for a week my finances are depleted because I have to feed her. Sometimes she see Searching on p.7 would stay with her mother in Oakville. Due to Laura's diminished mental capacity, Ida and Janet were granted power of attorney in matters of Laura's health and finances. The unexpected Janet said she discovered Laura's husband had mortgaged their home to the point where there was nothing her sister could get out of it in a divorce. Worse news came as Janet continued to dig into her sister's finances. "She hasn't worked for a long time so there is no income," said Janet, adding her sister had a locked-in pension plan from IBM but funds had been withdrawn. "There is about $6,000 left in it so she gets a cheque for about $200 a month. So really, what is that going to do for you? Nothing." After much effort, Janet succeeded in get-