They wrote to the editorial office:
The situation is as follows: At Fabryczna Street [...] live Ewa and Robert. Both are elderly, and Mrs. Ewa is completely infirm. Mrs. Ewa has not got out of bed for a long time and, as a result, bedsores have developed, along with what is most likely an infection. The woman is suffering terribly and there is no one to help her.
These are proud, old-fashioned people and they do not really want to help themselves (as neighbors, we are trying to help as much as we can). In addition, their alcoholic daughter Agata lives with them. The woman seems to be almost out of her mind and constantly argues with them (one day it started at 5 a.m., and Mrs. Ewa appears to have been beaten, but no one can be accused). We suspect that the daughter is stealing their disability or retirement pensions and spending it all “on alcohol.” We have already asked MOPS and other services for help, but they completely dismissed us (“it’s none of your business,” they said).
I should mention that we waited about three weeks just to see a doctor. (We insisted that someone come, but perhaps she was traveling through Częstochowa). The doctor merely looked at Mrs. Ewa and stated, based on appearances, that it was an infection, prescribing an antibiotic without examining her. A psychiatrist is supposed to come on May 20.
These people are terribly neglected and ill. Stench, dirt and poverty. The female neighbors joined forces and cleaned the place several times, but there is no trace of it now.
We help as much as we can, but we have no strength left. The children are afraid to walk past that floor because of the intoxicated neighbor. I went there several times to help them when Agata was causing a disturbance.
We do not know whom else to turn to. These people deserve help. I suspect that no one would want to be a prisoner in their own home in such a situation.
We contacted the director of the Bolesławiec Municipal Social Welfare Center, Tadeusz Kupczak, who told us that health issues in this case should be reported to the primary care physician. And if there is such a serious problem with alcohol, the Alcohol-Related Problems Resolution Commission operating under the Bolesławiec City Office should be notified. However, if the woman does not voluntarily agree to treatment, the Commission can use coercive measures with the assistance of a court.
We asked whether it often happens that people do not want to allow themselves to be helped, and whether MOPS can also intervene in such cases. “We do not give up after the first conversation,” T. Kupczak stressed. “If actual help is required, procedures are used and the matter is handled institutionally: through the court, prosecutor’s office or police.
He added that a MOPS employee would investigate the situation on Fabryczna Street as soon as the center received a report including the exact address and the names of the people in need of help.
The names of the people mentioned in the email from the Reader have been changed.