Weyburn senior and community advocate facing eviction from care home

A 71-year-old housing advocate in Weyburn is now being denied a care home of his own.

Fred Sandeski says he will no longer have a care home bed starting Wednesday. He suffers from COPD, epilepsy and visual impairment.

Sandeski was awarded the Queen Elizabeth Platinum Jubilee Medal last year for his work to help the unhoused. It was presented to him by then-Weyburn MLA Dustin Duncan. Now Fred is asking for help, for himself.

Fred said he is being denied an extension to remain at his current facility.

"I'm in the final stages of COPD. I have trouble walking 10 feet without having to sit down and catch my breath," Sandeski said in an interview with CBC's The 306. "They're just telling me to use home care, go home, and die."

Fred's wife Teresa Sandeski, herself in a wheelchair and paralyzed from the waist down, said she is physically unable to care for her husband.

The couple initially placed Fred in the care home temporarily while Teresa recovered from major surgery. Since then, they have been paying out of pocket for continued respite care.

Teresa said assessments by the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) have failed to take into consideration Fred's complex medical history, including a prior open-heart surgery and seriously low lung capacity.

"We're not looking for a handout, we're looking for a hand up," she said. 

The Ministry of Health and SHA said in a statement Monday that they are "in contact with Mr. Sandusky to discuss appropriate services." 

Fred said the only options he's been given are to rely on limited home care services or pay $3,000 up front to enter a private care home — a cost the couple simply can't afford.

"It's just a run around," Fred said. "They'll give me a subsidy for it, but I have to first pay the $3,000 up front." 

Community members have organized a rally on Wednesday at 1 p.m. CST in Weyburn to show their support. Teresa said it's not a protest, but a show of solidarity and a call for help and compassion. 

"Fred, he's worked in the community for 20 years as an advocate for people with disabilities, work barriers, free income tax [filing]. He's done all of that free, no money from the government, and they can't even have the decency to give him a bed so he can pass away," she said. "That is not integrity at all."