• Rama Arya

Desperate for Help

Barbara Berryman

Due to financial constraints that frequently plague the elderly, a spunky senior named Barbara had moved from mid-town LA to senior housing in Compton about 3 years ago. Then the pandemic hit. Her church and meditation classes shut down for a while, then moved online through Zoom. Barbara who lived alone, now struggled to maintain her connection with her friends and community through the internet. The building where she lived had only been wired by a single internet service which was too costly for her meager budget. The provider bundled it’s services, and Barabara who couldn’t pay for cable TV, she just needed a landline and wi-fi for an out-dated computer. Without internet, she had no access to the church’s zoom services and could no longer virtually attend her meditation group. Barbara kept trying to access Zoom through her cell phone but it was old and lacked bandwidth so it kept timing out while trying to connect.

In her frustration, Barbara reached out to a cell provider that had opened up across the street. They were advertising new customer specials and claimed to be affiliated with her current cell phone company. Barbara had hoped to get an updated phone with a good camera for Zoom and maybe a hotspot. The store’s representative made promises to Barbara if she purchased a new phone and changed service – including paying her current bill to T-Mobile. Not only did they take her monthly cell bill allotment (which was due the same week) they added fees they never mentioned and didn’t pay off her T-mobile account at all.

Elevated Life Solutions learned of Barbara’s hardship, and reached out to help. Rama was a friend that she had known for many years. Through ELS, he was able to provide her with an updated refurbished computer, and he even came to her house to set it up and show her how to use it.

Next ELS was able to provide Barbara with a new cell phone that came with a hotspot. She could use the hotspot to connect with her community via zoom on her new computer. Rama also ensured Barbara that he would be able to provide her with phone service for the new phone that would continue at a lower rate to accommodate her limited budget. Barbara was overjoyed by the love and support provided by Rama through Elevated Life Solutions.

From Barbara - “When Rama says that he really cares about people - he really does.” Lot’s of people say that, but they don’t act on it. I’ve seen him do so many charitable things.” She went on to share that years ago when they first met, Rama had a meditation group. At the end of meditation, Rama would cook for the whole group! He made lots of wonderful Indian dishes.

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