US: ‘We don’t have resources left.’ Grandparents are giving up retirement to raise their grandchildren (Includes video)
Market Watch – March 19, 2024
Mercedes Bristol was 57, divorced and planning a trip to Alaska with a friend of 40 years when she became the primary caregiver for her five grandchildren, who at the time ranged from 3 months to 9 years in age. Alone, with no help, “I had a decision to make,” Bristol said. She navigated a gauntlet of lawyers, Child Protective Services and the courts to formally adopt all five grandchildren and get them away from their parents’ substance use and neglect. At first, the five kids slept on her floor, because she had no extra beds. She charged everything she needed to buy for them on her credit cards. She cried in church, surrounded by her grandchildren. “I said, ‘I need all hands on deck. I don’t need prayers. We need people to be the hands and feet of Jesus,'” Bristol said. But then, Bristol said, God told her to stop being a victim. She hunkered down and got to work raising her grandkids.