Home & Medical Expense Fund for Michael
Donation protected
Michael is a Vietnam Vet who is homeless and having possibly a double leg amputation. His wife of 35 years, passed away five years ago to Lymphoma Cancer and they chose not have children. To pay the bills for her treatment everything was sold, leaving him homeless and alone. At 65 with diabetes so bad he's loosing his left leg and possibly his right foot, he is unemployable in the current job market (tons of young, healthy, available overqualified labor). As he says, "My life has been wonderful and I am so grateful. At the same time this third chapter is sucks!"
Well I want to make the Fourth Chapter awesome for him!
He has shared stores about flying all over the world and saving the lives of hundreds of people as a bush pilot up in Alaska from 1972 to 2006. He saw so much from the air and now he would love to see it from the ground. So he dreams of getting an RV and travel around. Sadly after he did the math, his Social Security (due to start in October 2014) and other benefits are not enough to make this happen!
Please help me change this man's stars into something to live for and a future we all would hope to have!
The plan to do everything possible to facilitate his hospital home-coming into a stable living situation & to have money to help with medical bills and other expenses.
Best guess he will be getting out of the hospital and physical therapy some time this summer. Thankfully it will be with a new titanium prosthetic leg. So that gives me three to four months to make this happen!
Please donate to a wonderful homeless man! Feel confident your donation will be going to making his life better! Any amount will make a difference and everything is going to him!
Thank you for taking the time to read this, sharing this with friends, and for your donation!
Elisabeth
Follow updates about Michael on his Facebook Page 'Michael's Dream into Reality"
I will be visiting him in the hospital, bring him cards and other well wishes so please feel free to write something at the FB fan page (link above). In a few weeks I plan to smuggle him in a really nice meal :)
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Would you like to know more about Michael?
Michael A. is a well put-together older man (65 years young) who could pass for Santa Clause off-duty. He has a gentle and kind demeanor. He is clean and clearly takes care of himself as best as he can. He is humble and reluctant to take money or gifts if asked. He found the conversation and connection I gave him the first time we talked to be more then any monetary value.
After fighting in Vietnam, he became a bush pilot up in Alaska. He would fly for search and rescue as well as other support to the rural life of Alaska. His wife of 35 years of marriage was an Architectural Artist. Because of their life style they didn't have children, instead option to focus on each other and their career. They were adventurous, including in 2004 going to Burning Man Festival in the Nevada desert. Five years ago he lost his wife to Lymphoma Cancer. He was fixing her dinner one night and came into the living room where she was, and she had passed.
I first met Michael after passing him every day as I was going to and from a new contract job in downtown San Francisco. He stands one block from my work every morning and evening with a cup out while he looks down, never asking for anything. After my first paycheck in a few months (finally clearing my bank account), I stopped and asked if he would like anything.
The following morning I stopped to say good morning and hello. I asked what this name was and placed a folded $20 bill in his cup. He said I didn't need to give him anything, to which I made it clear I wanted to. We talked for a few minutes and he expressed that the conversation and moment of connection the day before meant more to him then any money.
Since the first connection on the evening of Tuesday March 5th, I have passed him a total of four times. Every time I stop and we talk. The last time (Friday evening March 7th 2014) he gave me some thank you gifts; two poems he wrote for me, a thank you card, and some chocolate. Since Monday was the big surgery to remove his left leg, due to diabetes, this was the last day I would pass him on the street.
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A little about me.... I lost my father 10 years ago to cancer and have missed him every day since. This week I became friends with a man who never experienced the love of having his own children. He has fallen on the hard times that plague man of us, made harder by the aging of the body.
I am designer and have had my own struggles with employment. For a long time I have had the dream to help the homeless, yet found myself paralyzed by the massive scope of this epidemic. I have a dream for his dream to be realized and only a few months to make it happen. Please donate and/or share with others if you feel moved.
~Thank you
Well I want to make the Fourth Chapter awesome for him!
He has shared stores about flying all over the world and saving the lives of hundreds of people as a bush pilot up in Alaska from 1972 to 2006. He saw so much from the air and now he would love to see it from the ground. So he dreams of getting an RV and travel around. Sadly after he did the math, his Social Security (due to start in October 2014) and other benefits are not enough to make this happen!
Please help me change this man's stars into something to live for and a future we all would hope to have!
The plan to do everything possible to facilitate his hospital home-coming into a stable living situation & to have money to help with medical bills and other expenses.
Best guess he will be getting out of the hospital and physical therapy some time this summer. Thankfully it will be with a new titanium prosthetic leg. So that gives me three to four months to make this happen!
Please donate to a wonderful homeless man! Feel confident your donation will be going to making his life better! Any amount will make a difference and everything is going to him!
Thank you for taking the time to read this, sharing this with friends, and for your donation!
Elisabeth
Follow updates about Michael on his Facebook Page 'Michael's Dream into Reality"
I will be visiting him in the hospital, bring him cards and other well wishes so please feel free to write something at the FB fan page (link above). In a few weeks I plan to smuggle him in a really nice meal :)
---------------------
Would you like to know more about Michael?
Michael A. is a well put-together older man (65 years young) who could pass for Santa Clause off-duty. He has a gentle and kind demeanor. He is clean and clearly takes care of himself as best as he can. He is humble and reluctant to take money or gifts if asked. He found the conversation and connection I gave him the first time we talked to be more then any monetary value.
After fighting in Vietnam, he became a bush pilot up in Alaska. He would fly for search and rescue as well as other support to the rural life of Alaska. His wife of 35 years of marriage was an Architectural Artist. Because of their life style they didn't have children, instead option to focus on each other and their career. They were adventurous, including in 2004 going to Burning Man Festival in the Nevada desert. Five years ago he lost his wife to Lymphoma Cancer. He was fixing her dinner one night and came into the living room where she was, and she had passed.
I first met Michael after passing him every day as I was going to and from a new contract job in downtown San Francisco. He stands one block from my work every morning and evening with a cup out while he looks down, never asking for anything. After my first paycheck in a few months (finally clearing my bank account), I stopped and asked if he would like anything.
The following morning I stopped to say good morning and hello. I asked what this name was and placed a folded $20 bill in his cup. He said I didn't need to give him anything, to which I made it clear I wanted to. We talked for a few minutes and he expressed that the conversation and moment of connection the day before meant more to him then any money.
Since the first connection on the evening of Tuesday March 5th, I have passed him a total of four times. Every time I stop and we talk. The last time (Friday evening March 7th 2014) he gave me some thank you gifts; two poems he wrote for me, a thank you card, and some chocolate. Since Monday was the big surgery to remove his left leg, due to diabetes, this was the last day I would pass him on the street.
--------
A little about me.... I lost my father 10 years ago to cancer and have missed him every day since. This week I became friends with a man who never experienced the love of having his own children. He has fallen on the hard times that plague man of us, made harder by the aging of the body.
I am designer and have had my own struggles with employment. For a long time I have had the dream to help the homeless, yet found myself paralyzed by the massive scope of this epidemic. I have a dream for his dream to be realized and only a few months to make it happen. Please donate and/or share with others if you feel moved.
~Thank you
Organizer
Elisabeth Geddes
Organizer
Oakland, CA
