A 94-year-old woman was arrested for not paying her retirement home's rent
Juanita Fitzgerald was arrested the day before her 94th birthday due to not paying her rent in time. The elderly woman lives in a retirement home in Florida called the Franklin House. When police came to arrest her, she begged them not to take her away, but she ended up spending the night in jail anyway.What's worse, she even had to spend her birthday in a prison cell! All because she hadn't paid her rent, which amounted to a measly $161.
Juanita has refused to pay the rent because she was convinced that she wasn't going to live another month. Instead, she had offered the retirement home half of her belongings, which was worth more than the cost of her rent. The retirement house resfused, of course, and when Juanita still refused to pay the rent, they called the cops. The 94-year-old didn't leave without a fight. She intentionally fell out of her wheelchair while they tried escorting her to the cop car. She only suffered minor scratches and bruises, so they saw no reason not to not take her away.
The woman begged them not to tell her son and family, who live in Tennessee. Despite these wishes, word got out about the 94-year-old woman spending her birthday in jail and so many people donated money to pay her bail (which amounted to $500).
Once she got out of prison, Juanita received help from the Mid-Florida Homeless Coalition, assuring her that they would help her find a place to stay to live out the remainder of her days. Juanita also was helped through a GoFundMe, where different individuals and organizations donated money for her cause. With the support of the community behind her, we can only hope that Juanita will be able to make the most of the years she has left!
