Friends helping friends
Donation protected
Hello,
My name is Bruce T. Semones and I am setting this up for my best friend who is in need of assistance that he is unable to get his local government. My friend is on the verge of losing his home due to back taxes and not surprisingly, the local government is unwavering in getting what they want. Below is a short bio of him and a short story of how this happened...
Brett Starkey is a 48 year old veteran of the U.S. Army where is served two years in Germany and two years in Seattle Washington. Upon completing his service in the Army he moved home to the Huntington West Virginia/Ashland Kentucky area and went to work for the Raddisson hotel as a bellman. This is when I met him, it was 1992. In 1993 he suffered a brain aneurysm and underwent life saving brain surgery. Although he did survive, he was left with several ongoing issues related to the trauma. He suffers from Grand Mal seizures, memory loss and partial blindness with his right peripheral vision. Although a very serious health issue, Brett did not give up, and went back to work within weeks of being released from the hospital. It was difficult for him to work due to his seizures but he tried anyway.
He moved to Dallas Texas in 1996 to help his brother who was a single father of two young children, and stayed there until returning to Ashland Kentucky in 2004 to help care for his elderly, ailing grandmother. He inherited her home when she passed, along with the issues of the house that had been neglected for several years.
He worked as a server in the Ashland area during the time he was caring for his grandmother until 2009 when he developed Diverticulitis and again had to undergo surgery to correct the illness. He was required to wear a colostomy bag for one year, which inhibited him from working and over the next year underwent two more surgeries . During this time he was deemed "partially disabled" and although released to go back to work, he was only permitted to work 18-20 hours per week and earn no more than $200.00 per week. His monthly disability earnings were less than $900.00 and with limited earnings this was just enough to keep the lights on and food on the table and is when things started to get behind.
Not one to give up, he went back to work and tried to dig himself out of the massive hole and then came 2015 when he underwent double hip replacement surgery. He missed over 7 months of work and with little to no income has found himself in a no win situation.
The city of Flatwoods Kentucky has refused to work with him on a payment plan and they expect the amount due to be paid in full. He has talked to real estate agents, attornies and friends and we are out of ideas.
My thought is that if I have 700+ friends on facebook and he has 700+ friends and they has hundreds of friends then maybe a little bit from some of these friends would make a difference.
I and he are not looking for sympathy but compassion. I told the story above to verify that this isn't due to him not being a hard working man and citizen but this came about because of some serious health issues that were out of his control.
I want to say thank you ahead of time for your generosity. Even a little is better than none.
God Bless and have a wonderful day.
Bruce T. Semones
My name is Bruce T. Semones and I am setting this up for my best friend who is in need of assistance that he is unable to get his local government. My friend is on the verge of losing his home due to back taxes and not surprisingly, the local government is unwavering in getting what they want. Below is a short bio of him and a short story of how this happened...
Brett Starkey is a 48 year old veteran of the U.S. Army where is served two years in Germany and two years in Seattle Washington. Upon completing his service in the Army he moved home to the Huntington West Virginia/Ashland Kentucky area and went to work for the Raddisson hotel as a bellman. This is when I met him, it was 1992. In 1993 he suffered a brain aneurysm and underwent life saving brain surgery. Although he did survive, he was left with several ongoing issues related to the trauma. He suffers from Grand Mal seizures, memory loss and partial blindness with his right peripheral vision. Although a very serious health issue, Brett did not give up, and went back to work within weeks of being released from the hospital. It was difficult for him to work due to his seizures but he tried anyway.
He moved to Dallas Texas in 1996 to help his brother who was a single father of two young children, and stayed there until returning to Ashland Kentucky in 2004 to help care for his elderly, ailing grandmother. He inherited her home when she passed, along with the issues of the house that had been neglected for several years.
He worked as a server in the Ashland area during the time he was caring for his grandmother until 2009 when he developed Diverticulitis and again had to undergo surgery to correct the illness. He was required to wear a colostomy bag for one year, which inhibited him from working and over the next year underwent two more surgeries . During this time he was deemed "partially disabled" and although released to go back to work, he was only permitted to work 18-20 hours per week and earn no more than $200.00 per week. His monthly disability earnings were less than $900.00 and with limited earnings this was just enough to keep the lights on and food on the table and is when things started to get behind.
Not one to give up, he went back to work and tried to dig himself out of the massive hole and then came 2015 when he underwent double hip replacement surgery. He missed over 7 months of work and with little to no income has found himself in a no win situation.
The city of Flatwoods Kentucky has refused to work with him on a payment plan and they expect the amount due to be paid in full. He has talked to real estate agents, attornies and friends and we are out of ideas.
My thought is that if I have 700+ friends on facebook and he has 700+ friends and they has hundreds of friends then maybe a little bit from some of these friends would make a difference.
I and he are not looking for sympathy but compassion. I told the story above to verify that this isn't due to him not being a hard working man and citizen but this came about because of some serious health issues that were out of his control.
I want to say thank you ahead of time for your generosity. Even a little is better than none.
God Bless and have a wonderful day.
Bruce T. Semones
Organizer and beneficiary
Bruce Semones
Organizer
Nelsonville, OH
Bruce Semones
Beneficiary
