A Veterans Day Story: You Can Be That Caring Person For Your Neighbor – Sometimes They Just Need A Little Help
Share
A Veterans Day Story: You Can Be That Caring Person For Your Neighbor – Sometimes They Just Need A Little Help
Editor’s note: Staten Islanders should be glad to know that we have releases here that truly care about our veterans, including Senator Gillibrand, State Senator Scarcella-Spanton (who hosted a Veteran’s roundtable to find out what they need from their own words), and Rep. Malliotakis.
I wanted to share a Veteran’s Day story with you. It’s the story of Luke. Luke is a kind and gentle young man whom I’ve come to love like a son. He did everything right. He proudly served our country as a Marine. He went to college (SUNY), where he played football. He was a scholar and an athlete. He went to church. He was an all-around American boy.
After college, he got a job in a restaurant which allowed him to get his own apartment, a car, and put money in the bank. Then, one day, Luke started hearing voices. At first, he tried to hide his condition, but it worsened.
Eventually, his condition was so bad that Luke could no longer work. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He lost everything: his home, his car, and all of his worldly possessions. Eventually, Luke ended up homeless. A few years ago, my friend, Michael, who is, also, a veteran who served in the Air Force, found Luke wandering the streets of New York City, on a freezing cold winter day, wearing nothing but plastic shoes.
Michael took Luke in, and gave him a home, warm clothes, and the care that he needed and deserved. I bring this up now, because as so many Americans are facing the prospect of losing their healthcare and so many Americans (over 40 million) are anxiously awaiting their SNAP benefits, so they can have food to eat, I still hear misinformed people talking about all of the “lazy” people who are scamming the system.
Never mind the fact that most people on SNAP and Medicaid – who are not disabled, a senior, or a minor child – DO work (many Wal-mart employees receive SNAP benefits, while the heiress to the Walton fortune,
Alice Walton, lives in a $25 million duplex on Park Avenue, on the 30th and 31st floors of a posh luxury building), but many on public assistance are VETERANS OR ACTIVE DUTY MEMBERS OF THE MILITARY.
So Michael took Luke in, and gave this kind homeless Veteran a proper home. Michael was renting a place in the St. George area of Staten Island from landlords that own several properties in the area (3 of which have been shut down for city code violations — 135 Corson Avenue being one of the properties found to be in violation).
When the landlords learned about Luke, they began a campaign of non-stop abuse and harassment. Some of their other tenants claimed to be scared of Luke. The landlords forbade Luke’s friends from visiting him, they took away his couch and TV, and they began a campaign of intimidation to make Michael and Luke leave. Finally, Michael, who is now Luke’s full-time caregiver, who takes Luke to his doctor appointments and ensures Luke takes his medication, has found a place for the two of them to live in peace, free from abuse, in Upstate New York. No one should be abused by a landlord, and no veteran who served his country should be homeless or mistreated.
Although Luke is now safe and secure in his new place, he and Michael lost quite a bit in their search for a safe haven and subsequent move. Below is a Go Fund Me that was set up when they were looking for a new home. Although they are settled into their new place, they could use a little help to offset their moving costs, and get a few things to turn their house into a home. Perhaps folks could help a disabled veteran out this holiday season.
Banner Image: Michael and Luke. Image Credit – Refuse Fascism
Share
Soledad Haren
I worked near Ground Zero on 9/11, and was asked to return to work 3 days later. That exposure to the 9/11 toxic dust took a toll on my health, but that would spark my interest in Green Living. In 2004, I left the legal field, and went to work in the restaurant business. I worked as a chef in Manhattan & Brooklyn, eventually opening my own catering business, which closed in 2020 due to the Pandemic. However, I started Build A Better Planet in 2012 to share what I'd learned about Green Living, health, wellness, sustainability, and environmental issues with others. Our website: www.buildabetterplanet.org Our free online radio station: www.3rdstrikeradio.com All new music shows are out now, including our 3-hour Halloween Rock special, 3rd Strike Rock. All artists are Indie Artists, who help Mother Earth in their own communities.
There are no comments yet
Why not be the first