80 Letter 2001 July 8, 2001
Today at about 15:00 Maria Zygmont came to the station. She requested that I come to
her mother's house at 80 Market St. She said that she was in the process of cleaning out
the house and that her mother(Helen Zygmont)would not let her remove anything from
the residence. She went on to explain that her mother was in Sunbridge Nursing Home
because she had medical and mental health problems. She said that her mother was a
client of Highland Valley Elder service and that she (Maria Zygmont)had been working
with Highland Valley to remove the accumulated material in the house.
I went to 80 Market and was escorted into the house by Maria Zygmont. Her mother
was present and was complaining that we had no right to be there. I asked Maria
Zygmont to come out side with me. I then asked her about he mother's mental state. She
said that she did not have Alzheimer's, but did have mental problems, and that was one of
the reasons that she was in Sunbridge. I then made a quick tour of the house with Maria.
Her mother continued to protest our presence, so I made my tour very quick to limit the
mothers discomfort. I observed that the house was full of clothing and objects but I did
not see accumulated garbage or trash. The house was messy and several rooms could not
be entered because of the amount of material in the rooms. Maria told me that her mother
and father had been in the tag sale business and that after her father had died that the
mother had continued to collect and buy tag sale material.
After the tour of the house I advised Maria to contact the Board of Health and Highland
Valley Elder to help set up a procedure to access and inspect the home.
Deputy Chief Dana Cheverette
Maria Zygmont
10 Doody Ave
Easthampton Ma
527-8413 Pager# (413) 290-3537
Highland Valley Elder
Contact
Sterne LaPorte or Lori Aruda