Movement afoot to bring back 101-year-old woman evicted from Santa Rosa assisted-living facility

It’s been more than a month since Mabel Barnfield, 101, was evicted from a Santa Rosa assisted-living center and forced to leave Sonoma County because no local nursing home would take her. Now a Santa Rosa attorney is spearheading an effort to bring her back here from Marin County.

Heather Campopiano, who specializes in elder law and estate planning, is working with Sonoma County Legal Aid and others to try to find Barnfield a bed in a local nursing home that takes Medi-Cal health insurance.

“We’re trying to band together and see what we can do to move Mabel back to Sonoma County,” Campopiano said. “She’s one of our fellow community members and we want her back.”

Campopiano, who was born and raised in Sonoma County and has been practicing law for more than two decades, said she was moved by Barnfield’s story because it speaks to a growing housing crisis among the local senior population. She said she got into elder law after seeing her grandparents experience “all kinds of nursing home issues.”

Barnfield’s younger sister, Betty James, 90, hasn’t seen her in weeks. James, who lives in southeast Santa Rosa, said she no longer drives and has been unable to find someone to take her to Novato to visit her older sister.

“That’s not so good. I used to see her more often,” James said. “I do call every day or every other day. She’s eating well, so that’s good.”

Barnfield had been living at Brookdale Fountaingrove, an assisted-living center in east Santa Rosa for six years after selling her home in the Bennett Valley area. The cost of living at Brookdale eventually drained her bank account and she could no longer pay her monthly rent, which was nearly $7,000 by the time she was evicted.

With no money left, Barnfield went on Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program. Brookdale, like other assisted-living facilities, is not certified to receive Medi-Cal financial reimbursements because it’s not treating a medical need.

By contrast, care in a skilled nursing home is considered a medical service. Senior advocates say skilled-nursing facilities are reluctant to accept too many Medi-Cal patients because the reimbursement is lower than private insurance or Medicare.

Before she was evicted, Barnfield’s close friends tried unsuccessfully to get her relocated to one of the 19 skilled-nursing homes in Sonoma County that are Medi-Cal certified. During her eviction hearing on April 18, her Legal Aid attorney and attorneys for Brookdale were able to find a bed at a nursing home in Novato.

The first order of business, the attorney Capopiano said, is to get Barnfield back to Sonoma County. Future plans include setting up a special needs trust for Barnfield and other seniors in similar situations. That would allow money to help Barnfield to be held in trust without jeopardizing her government assistance.

The Santa Rosa attorney has coined the effort, “Mabel’s Angels,” and the angels would be anyone who wants to help Barnfield or other seniors experiencing the same difficulties.

Campopiano acknowledges there are local nonprofits and agencies that provide services to seniors who are experiencing financial difficulty or housing instability, including the Council on Aging and the Sonoma County Area Agency on Agency.

But she said the need continues to grow and the local population continues to age.

Ronit Rubinoff, executive director of Sonoma County Legal Aid, said she welcomes Campopiano’s effort. Rubinoff said that while Barnfield’s case is unique because of her age, local seniors facing eviction is all too common.

“It’s the number one issue facing seniors in our elder law program,” Rubinoff said. “These seniors need to have a voice or they’re going to end up on the street.”

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @pressreno.