Ailing neighbor becomes part of woman's family

She'd received a call from Michael Kulczyk, 61, who wanted her to come and get him.

Mr. Kulczyk, the son of a deceased friend of hers, has cerebral palsy.

Ms. Dolan, a local landlord, had stopped by on occasion to leave Mr. Kulczyk food.

She had not been inside the house and, except for one brief meeting on the porch three years before, she'd never seen Mr. Kulczyk outside the house.

When Ms. Dolan received the call, she and her daughter went to the house with some neighbors.

Upon entering, they were dismayed to find it had no heat, electricity, or water. About 20 cats roamed about. Garbage was stacked high. Mr. Kulczyk was on a mattress pad in a second-floor bedroom, rolled up in a ball, Ms. Dolan recalled.

Neighbors transported him to Ms. Dolan's home.

She later learned that Mr. Kulczyk had not left the house in years, possibly since high school. Neither had he seen a doctor. He'd lived on little besides potato chips and cold hot dogs. Because of nutritional deficiencies, he spent a week in the hospital after he was rescued.

Ms. Dolan said she and her daughter soaked and scrubbed Mr. Kulczyk's feet for hours.

Once they got Mr. Kulczyk to bed, he slept for two days solid, Ms. Dolan added.

"I thought, 'My God, I killed him.' But he was just so exhausted," she said.

Today, Mr. Kulczyk lives with Ms. Dolan and her daughter in their house on Collingwood Boulevard.

He's enrolled in a therapy program for his cerebral palsy, goes to activities at the local senior center, and has a wheelchair and walker to get around. Ms. Dolan cooks him three meals a day.

"It's been great living with her. I thank her for giving me a home," said Mr. Kulczyk, who calls the 61-year-old Ms. Dolan "Ma." "She's done so much for me. I can't even begin to describe it."

Although Mr. Kulczyk receives Medicaid and some money from Social Security, Ms. Dolan pays for many of his other expenses.

Ms. Dolan will be among the caregivers recognized today at the Ohio Department of Aging's Elder Caregiver Award ceremony in Columbus.

"She's amazing," Jane Byrnes, a department spokesman, said. "She brought essentially a stranger in need into her home and made him a part of her family."

Looking after Mr. Kulczyk has been an award in itself, Ms. Dolan said.

"He's my son now, and I am so proud of him. He has overcome so much," Ms. Dolan said.

"I have an absolutely wonderful gentlemen who lives with me. I don't feel I gave that much out to get so much back."

Contact Claudia Boyd-Barrett at:

cbarrett@theblade.com

or 419-724-6272.