Neal and Michaele Schon Put Spotlight on Saving Fragile Mother Rosemary Holt - UPDATE

JOURNEY founder and only remaining original member NEAL SCHON and his wife, former Real Housewives D.C. star MICHAELE SCHON, are opening up their heretofore private lives to draw attention to the growing crisis of systemic elder care abuse in America. Originally revealed on Blast.com, the story of Michaele’s mother, Rosemary Holt’s, ongoing suffering at the hands of a broken legal system in Virginia is fast bringing much needed scrutiny to the critical social problem.

The evidence of insufficiency and abuse cited by the Schons includes frequent injuries, documented neglect, medical malpractice–including the administration of inappropriate and dangerous sedative medications–and untruthful reporting to the family concerning Rosemary’s care.

Several of those involved with the case, including guardian ad litem Elizabeth L. Wildhack, temporary guardian Paul W. Barnett (Arlington, VA), as well as those family members that are insistent that she remain in assisted living against her wishes, have been contacted by the Schons with the goal of mediating towards the best resolution for Rosemary. When contacting any of the above to discuss Rosemary’s future or to obtain any statement, all have declined, while Rosemary herself remains isolated at the facility. Unfortunately, until the Schons went public, there has been no willingness to address Rosemary’s desires for her future. 

Finally, the Schons, despite providing all financial support for Rosemary’s care, are being blocked by the Court from seeing Rosemary, isolating her from all but a handful of family. She will not even be allowed to leave the facility to be with family over the Holiday season, further alienating and isolating her from most of her friends and family.

The couple has revealed that there is a major network documentary in process. “Saving Rosemary” will discuss the disconnected and profit driven multimillion dollar elder care business with the resulting abuse, neglect, and exploitation that is destroying the most vulnerable and fragile American citizens (for more on the elder care crisis in Virginia specifically, see USA Today’s article on Elder Care Abuse in the VA Nursing Homes)

The couple’s immediate goal is to obtain conservatorship of Rosemary in order to return her to the previous level of independence and dignity that she rightfully deserves, but also want to share their experience to create a meaningful dialogue about the condition of the American health care system.