Brett Kelman

The Desert Sun

Evelyn Heller, a 100-year-old woman with a long white ponytail, was sitting on her couch in the living room of her new apartment when there was a knock at the door. On her doorstep was Congressman Raul Ruiz and his wife, Monica Rivers, who was holding a pot of homemade chicken noodle soup.

“That’s wonderful!” Heller said, inviting them in. “How sweet of you.”

Fifteen minutes later, there was another knock at the door. This time, it was Tony Robbins, a famous motivational speaker and philanthropist.

“Oh there’s that man again,” Heller joked. “Don’t tell your wife about us.”

For the next 20 minutes, the group sat on the couch and chatted like old friends. Heller confessed she had a crush on President Barack Obama and bragged that she knew Taylor Swift was going to be famous long before she was actually famous. Everyone said they liked her new home.

Catch up: How a 100-year-old woman was booted from her home

“I don’t know how anyone my age can have a bigger day than today,” Heller said. “I just don’t know how.”

“I don’t think I’ve talked this much in five years.”

But Heller was not always so jolly. Only three weeks ago, she was impoverished and on the verge of homelessness after being evicted from her apartment in Palm Desert. Robbins and Ruiz raced to the rescue after reading about her plight in The Desert Sun.

Robbins donated Heller $24,000 – $1,000 a month for two years – so she could secure a new place to live. Ruiz’s office sent social workers to help her find a new apartment. Together, they pulled Heller back from brink of a life on the streets, and she moved into a new home in downtown La Quinta this week.

Tony Robbins saves 100-year-old from homelessness

Ruiz and Robbins visited her on Friday night to celebrate and to reassure Heller that she would be looked after.

“You have a lot of people who are going to keep an eye on you now,” Ruiz promised.

“Well, you can watch me all you want, if you can stand it,” Heller said, cracking another joke.

Heller, who was born in 1915, faced eviction after losing a brief and strange trial at the Palm Springs Courthouse on April 1. Heller’s landlord, Deep Canyon Desert LLC, insisted that the old woman should be evicted because she had loud, disruptive arguments with one of her daughters.

Heller, who could barely see or hear, argued her own case, pleading with a judge for more time to find a new home. She was denied by Riverside County Judge Charles Haines, who evicted her and ordered her to pay $616 in prorated rent, $500 in attorney’s fees and $420 in court costs.

100-year-old woman booted from her Palm Desert home

The Desert Sun published a front-page story about Heller’s case the following day. Both Robbins and Ruiz read the story, then contacted the newspaper offering to help. A reporter connected the two men, and soon after, Heller was in her new home.

“It’s just gorgeous,” Heller said. “Everyone has been very … lovely.”

On Friday, the charity went even further. Robbins said he would buy Heller a new TV and Ruiz agreed to help get it installed. Robbins also said he would fly Heller to San Francisco to attend one of his seminars in October. Rivers told Heller she would come back to visit with her twin daughters.

As he left the apartment on Friday, Ruiz said he was motivated to help Heller because he believe she represented a larger problem facing the desert’s elderly.

“I think our seniors are struggling. Their social security isn’t going far enough. Some of them don’t have family or friends,” Ruiz said. “And it breaks my heart.”

Reporter Brett Kelman can be reached at (760) 778 4642, brett.kelman@desertsun.com or @TDSbrettkelman on Twitter.