Relief efforts slow to reach Haitian nursing home survivors

Eight days after a massive earthquake tore through the Haitian capital of Port-Au-Prince, many nursing home residents are still awaiting large-scale aid, according to recent news reports.

An initial report from The Associated Press described the residents as “sleeping on dirt, starving as rats picked at their overflowing diapers.” Though new reports say survivors and family members are bringing food and temporary shelters to the nursing home residents, large-scale foreign relief efforts have yet to reach the elderly earthquake victims. It is still unclear when help will arrive, according to the AP.

In response to the disaster in Haiti, American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging President and CEO Larry Minnix wrote a letter to members on Friday asking them to be generous and make donations to the various charitable organizations that are working to provide relief to the survivors. He implored members to “enlarge the heart of a devastated Haiti.”