Heroic Janitor Bathes And Feeds 19 Elderly People After Carer Walkout

Miguel Alverez, aged 33, is the janitor at the Valley Springs Manor care home which cares for elderly people, many of whom have dementia.

The Castro Valley home was forced to close due to various safety and health violations, which left the carers there unpaid for more than two weeks.

All of the care workers walked out from their jobs. Only the cook, Maurice Rowland, and the janitor, remained to attend to the needs of the residents at the home.

As Alvarez and Rowland are not medically trained professionals they needed to call 911 on an emergency basis on more than one occasion as they struggled to keep the 19 residents clean and fed.

Alvarez has been dubbed the “hero janitor” for the his kindness and hard works on behalf of the residents who he said “grew weak” when the care workers walked out on them.

The “hero janitor” is the father of one and also has a stepson who he also cares for. He took the janitor position at the care home in order to save some money to buy his kids presents in time for Christmas.

Even though he was only paid $8 an hour to clean the facility, he stepped up to the plate at a great time of need and attended to the desperate residents.

“I’m a janitor – I didn’t know what I was doing. I just tried the best I could. I’d never want to see my parents or grandparents go through anything like that. I liked these people. I wanted to treat them well,” he said.

He reported that residents were becoming “zombie-like” and confused as they didn’t receive their medication for a number of days: “I felt bad for them so I helped them,” Alvarez said innocently.

The “hero janitor” Alvarez didn’t receive a penny in recompense for all his hard work on behalf of the residents in need or indeed for any of the cleaning work that he carried out as part of his job.