Greetings, friends and family. I’ve been encouraged to create a platform by which those who love him can help fund a comfortable end of life for my sweet dad, Jim Rotholz. Many of you have probably seen his own fundraising efforts over the years to support orphanages, schools, and other ministries and services for friends and acquaintances around the world. He’s the kind of guy who offers to share his sandwich if he encounter a hungry person outside of a store, even if it was all he had for lunch. He lived a life of service without monetary gain while he had his health, and now it’s time for us to return the favor.
First, who he is: Jim Rotholz was an explorer, trekker, hippie Christian turned international aid worker and father. Later, when he had kids and it became hard to care for his family in conflict zones (we were evacuated from Addis Ababa during a rebel-led coup), he went back to school to pursue cultural anthropology. My dad was continually fascinated by culture, stories, traditions, foods, and ways of being that were different than his own upbringing near Houston, Texas. He was a closet intellectual, and philosophized until he ended up with a doctorate. Shortly after this achievement, related to the stress of managing life with elementary-aged kids, a recently-disabled wife, and only a grad assistantship for wages, he lost his own health. I won’t get into the details, but autoimmune conditions, fibromyalgia, multiple chemical sensitivity, malabsorption issues and neurological issues have all been pieces of the pie. Unable to reverse the total collapse, he eventually pursued social security disability status, and found ways to put his faith into action from the computer: promoting missions work and international development, earnestly running fundraisers for orphanages, serving on the board of non-profits, writing books telling stories of how the goodness of Christ has no borders: brotherly love means everyone.
Where he’s been: A few years ago, my mom, Louise Rotholz, died of pancreatic cancer, leaving my father without his best friend of 42 years, but also without a caretaker, grocery shopper, house cleaner, etc. and unable to afford payments on their cabin. I flew to Virginia and drove him home to Oregon to live with me. For various reasons–mostly chemical and electromagnetic sensitivities–it didn’t work out. He lived primarily out of his van in the PNW for about a year before deciding to return to Texas. My dad found some EI (environmental illness)-safe short-term stays in various cabins, garages, and on abandoned land, and was unhoused when he found out that he has both Lupus and metastasized cancer. Ugh. We, his family, have been rallying to try to set up safe housing, and keep him comfortable though all this.
Where he is: Recently, Michael Clay, my uncle and my dad’s older brother, was able to secure him a cabin at “Regina Caeli,” a chemically safe, hyperbaric oxygen wellness retreat center in Ennis, Texas. What a relief for him to be housed, in a place he can be comfortable, and to be surrounded by others with a wellness-oriented, and Christ-inspired outlook. HUGE blessing.
What’s next: While my dad’s time remaining on Earth is unclear, no doctor has given him more than a year. A nurse suggested 2 months. We, his family, friends, and loved ones, want to keep him in a comfortable place where he can have running water, a real bed, a refrigerator, and respite from the summer heat. The lovely Regina Caeli center costs $100/night, but feels worth it when the alternative is living in a van–constantly running to keep the A/C on, ordering pick-up groceries from his phone to be carried out to him in the paring lot and eaten off of paper plates, not having a toilet…
Currently, the cost is all going on a kind family member’s credit card, who doesn’t have the funds to pay the bill when it comes due. We are hoping that we, Jim’s community, can come together to sponsor a day, two days, or a week of housing for him, or chip in to cover inevitable funeral costs. I set this fundraiser for $20,000 to account for 4 months of housing, funeral costs, and to fund a personal care assistant when family can not be there and my father is too weak to cook and take care of himself. We are having trouble finding hospice options that are safe for those with environmental illness and covered by Medicare/Medicaid.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for considering, and certainly no expectation to give. Appreciate you (just for being you) either way. 🙂
