The high cost of living in Israel makes it difficult for many residents to finish the month and live with dignity, including A., a 75-year-old elderly resident of Kiryat Gat who lives in the Amidar apartment and has difficulty getting up and down from her house on the fourth floor and even showering. "Amidar tells me that there are no vacant apartments," she tells Maariv.
"I live here alone. The shower is too high for me. My children live abroad, Amidar doesn't help. I can't even call them. There are some good people who volunteer to help me, but I am here all alone," says A.
A's house (photo: private photo)Yigal Weinberger, a member of the Kiryat Gat city council said: "The elderly, our founding generation, should be accompanied and cherished all year round. Since last night, I've been walking around with only one word in my head: shame. If the state and the municipality don't take care of the elderly – we, the people who care about them, will take care of it. Already when I was at her house, I picked up the phones and started gathering the friends, who will come in the coming days and together we will turn her Amidar apartment into an apartment worth living in. I call on all the residents of the city to mobilize and come to help us, because even on tense days like this, the elderly must not be left behind."
The company Amidar stated : "The company offered the customer two alternative apartments which she refused, because of this and according to the rules of the Ministry of Construction and Housing, her right to public housing was revoked. Amidar representatives contacted the customer to help her submit a request for a third offer, but unfortunately the customer has chosen not to cooperate for the time being The manager of the Amidar branch this morning on her own initiative contacted the welfare representatives in order to assist them in producing the necessary documents for renewing the client's entitlement to public housing."
The home of the elderly Makrit Gat (photo: private photo)
