Show 2E Standard-Examin- Thursday er May 20 1982 M Ghetto of dispair JfV v t Poverty baiters elderly By TOM TIEDE PHILADELPHIA (NEA) — Dorothy Koltun was a teenager when Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act of remembers her mother’s ecstatic “Thank God for President 1935 And she reaction Roosevelt” the mother shouted “Social Security will take care of my children” Well it didn’t work out that way And both mother and daughter are disappointed years” Mrs Koltun I still knows what’s she believe says “but happened to me Every time I visit her grave at the cemetery a wet spot forms on the tombstone The stone is dry before I get there then it gets wet I think she is crying for me” There is much to cry about certainly For Mrs Koltun is now 65 and a member of the legion of urban elderly who dwell in a shocking and pervasive ghetto of poverty and despair She is sick she is feeble she is afraid she is “Mom’s been dead for trapped — and for all intents and purposes she is broke Social Security? Mrs Koltun says the program that so pleased her mother hardly meets the fuel bill in the winter And there are days there is no food in her house She doesn’t say she’s starving but she does not have the income to buy enough bread when her other bills fall due “I tell you it’s terrible” she groans She twists a napkin around her finger and says even God won’t help “I pray and pray and nothing happens Everything just gets worse Sometimes I get so scared I just want to run But I know I can’t run I’m too old There’s no place to go” She breaks the napkin Then she weeps There are 25 million Americans over the age of 65 and the government guess is that nearly one in four of them is like Dorothy Koltun That is to say they are confused and impoverished fragile and helpless and unfortunately they are very likely to remain so for the rest of their lives They are also forgotten in large measure And that’s why Mrs Koltun’s private affairs are being discussed here The story is set entirely in the narrow streets and decaying neighborhoods of South Philadelphia Mrs Koltun w'as born here the daughter of a working man and she was raised among the early century immigrants and lower middle class people who still dominate the area’s population In other words she w’as poor from the beginning And worse she did not have any real opportunity to escape She says her father was a simple person who did not encourage education or overachievement He was also something of a cad He drank a lot and sometimes terrorized his family But Mrs Koltun says her mother’s kindness made up for the other parent and poverty or not there were happy times One of the latter occurred in 1945 when she met Benjamin Koltun her husband-to-b- e Ben worked in upholstery shops almost always for a minimum wage He paid the bills but there was seldom anything extra The couple saved money by living with Dorothy’s parents in a rowhouse in the middle of the block on Birthday Gerritt Street they still live in- - - be y Moreover working or playing long hours in the sun may cause 7ff t 4 ' heartbreaking ' One of the social workers is Betty Begg She - V' A is an outreach counselor else” They don’t have anything else but trouble that is They own the rowhouse but it’s more of a burden than a property The roof leaks the floors are warped the windows are trussed with cellophane tape and the taxes are debilitating Mrs Begg says it’s not worth more than $6000 to $7000 Then there is the furniture It’s mostly old and spare The carpets are worn the walls are empty and the couch is out of balance There is a gas range in the kitchen and a refrigerator nearby Mrs Koltun does all of the washing and the drying by hand Question: “Do you have a family car?” Answer: “Never” “When did you go to a movie last?” “Seven years ago” “Is that your only pair of shoes Dorothy?” Blush Betty Begg says the family situation is impossible The expenses exceed the income and the significant needs are never met Ben has multiple stomach problems for instance and has been ordered to follow several strict diets 25-year-- 50-year-- The Elderly Suffer 25 10 70 72 74 76 78 ’80 Poverty in America is rising again after years of decline The statistics in this chart — compiled by the Census Bureau through 1980 and therefore not reflecting current cuts in social programs — indicate the elderly benefited most during the decline in the poverty count and are most affected by the upturn premature aging wrinkling leathery texture and precancerous skin conditions This is especially true of blondes d redheads people and sunbelt dwellers Solar keratosis a condition which in some cases may become malignant if untreated may result from too much exposure over a long period of time Its symptoms include irregular red usually painless patches often found on the hands and face fair-skinne- described as at the Albert Einstein Medical Center She says Dorothy Koltun’s family is one of 300 she looks after and perhaps the saddest one “They’re lucky they have each other” she explains “they don’t have enything Too much of that sun can do more than give you a suntan The fact is that years of exposure may be harmful to your skin r the small modest home They live there now with Dorothy’s brother Arthur He is 49 polite painfully quiet and he can’t work because of physical disabilities The three pool their resources and share the tribulations and social workers who know them say their lot canonly £2X3$ 1 " 1--- skin Too much sun can harm who have Poor from the beginning Dorothy and Benjamin Koltun feel they're lucky to have each other They have nothing else but trouble such symptoms If not treated in time solar keratosis may lead to skin cancer the most common form of cancer among people For most people with light skin first exposure to the sun early in the season should not exceed ten to 15 minutes for each side If you begin tanning later in the summer first exposure should be People should see their doctors shorter particularly if you start in a climate sunnier than the one in which you live Increase exposure time by about a third each day The time of day is also important The sun’s burning rays are most intense between Shrink-To-F- it Button-Fl- y but Dorothy says she can’t afford the special Cut For Women food: “How can I? There is gas and electricity and regular groceries I‘m paying $225 for a new boiler and $6250 a month to upgrade the wir- ing And the medical? Look at those pills on the 501 table They cost stomach pills for apart” At least Ben is Now 70 years old he has a weak heart a chronic ulcer various stomach disorders poor circulation and arthritis And Mrs Koltun is not much better She has a heart condition of her own for which she takes nitroglycerin tablets and she also has a hiatal hernia And Arthur? Mrs Begg says he was so brutalized by his father that he is mentally and physically destroyed No doubt about it the family’s medical expenses are staggering Mrs Begg says Medicare is a “joke” And she adds that other social programs for the elderly are equally inadequate Desperate as it is the Koltun family does not qualify for nursing care they cannot get public assistance and they’ve been turned down twice for food Only Levi Knows How To Redesign the Levi Finally the denims that won the west have been cut to fit a junior gals figure! Tapered at the waist slightly fuller in the hips-t- o fit the junior figure These Levi Junior 501's beautifully have the same metal button fly the same copper rivets on the front pockets and they're made of the same shrink-to-f- it cotton detough 100 nim Yes these Levi Junior 501 's are the real thing right down to the levi emblem on the back and the famous red tab on the pocket Get your 501's today at all Sunset Sport Centers Sizes 3 to 15 stamps There also have been harsh reductions in the hot meals programs Betty Begg calls it slow starvation She says centers that used to serve five meals a week are now serving three or four either that or they are trying to stretch their food supplies by passing out half portions Half portions? “They skimp on the bread and the meat” Mrs Begg says shaking her head “and they put less soup in the bowls” ' Dorothy Koltun breaks her napkin again “I’m a citizen of this country all these But is years” she saysa “I’m a good tocitizen Well is act? this the way for great nation tell I Please think can’t it? straight anymore me what to do I don’t know where to turn I can’t sleep at night I love this country but I’m I Now ashamed” So is Betty Begg She says she does what she’s able for Dorothy Koltun but other than that all she can do is watch her suffer “She needs so much help that I almost hate to have her call me anymore I don’t have any answers All I know is that I’m not anxious to get old anytime soon” In Ogden 2909 Wash Blvd In Sunset 2517 N Mein night on Highway Vl In Bountiful 420 W 500 S Layton Hills Mali Home Improvement Show 22 20 May Local are to dealers joining together help you get your house in order for Spring They will be displaying everything from hot tubs to roof tile at the Layton Hills Mall Home Improvement Show May An open house will be held Friday to fete George F Froerer on the occasion of his 80th birthday Froerer will greet friends and relatives from 5:30 to 7 pm at his home 762 23rd 20-2- 2 Valuable gift certificates and free gifts will be given away during regular mat hours 10:00-9:0- 0 Monday-Frida- y Saturddy Sunday 10:00-6:0- 0 12:00-5:0- 0 (select stores only) He w’as bom May in Eden a son 21 1902 of George and Ane Oline Rosenkilde He married Lola Froerer May Farrell Aug 1931 in Logan He 5 in retired of 1981 as a January parking lot attendant for Ogden City He had also been employed by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad an American Can Company prior to that He is a member of the Ogden LDS 6th Ward IAYTON He and his wife have one son and three daughters: Eugene George Froerer South Og- MILLS den Vannette Todd Washington Terrace Kathryn Petersen and Judity Heilman both of Ogden They also have grandchildren J 11 am and 3 pm 10 T |