Help us help Crazyjack

Hello, this is Kathie Jacks daughter along with Josh, his son.

Most of you have met our dad through his pin striping, art, or sign work. I know from the shortest of acquaintances, to the longer relationships throughout the years, our dad has impacted many of your lives for the better through his work, and his social antics that we all have come to love. We have always been amazed by how many people do know him, and follow his work. Unfortunately, within the last several years our dad has been doing a lot of relocating due to some irrational perspectives of the places he was in, coupled with the on setting of dementia. The relocation started after his first stint in Newport/Toledo, OR, which seemed to be a good one for him. He ventured to Soquel, CA, and Sacramento, CA a few times, but returned to Toledo, OR. 

Based on affordability and knowing the good times with great people in that region, he felt it could be the same again. He ended up living in the back of a small business without a shower or any real living quarters for a low amount of rent. He was not supposed to be living there, only conducting business. It was here where things started to turn for him. He would do less art, wasn't making many signs, and was feeling frustrated with where he was in life. Things became more and more negative. I (Josh) arrived in Toledo in 2015 after following my own wayward ways for a few years, and I saw the negativity and frustration first hand. He had the space to continue to produce art, or make signs, but I know business and selling art can be challenging in a small town like that.

He stopped making art, and the focus became  how bad Toledo was, and he needed to leave. I was not aware then, but I feel some elements of dementia might have been setting in. During our time there I was able to get proper paperwork going for him with the local VA office who referred us to a housing department where we could potentially get my dad into an actual apartment. After working with the housing office, I was able to get a case worker to provide a deposit and 1.5 months rent for an apartment in Corvallis, OR for my dad. Coming off living in a business illegally to a clean, one bedroom apartment in a good area in Corvallis, and having access to a larger region, I believed this would be a really positive transition for him.  

This was not the case. Within a day or so of being in the apartment, he could only complain about it, then go on a tangent about the mold in the air, the people in the town, and basically everything being wrong, except him. This has been a constant script for my dad throughout his whole life, and one I'm sure he never let anyone else really see. So, he threw that opportunity away by tossing the keys in the apartment, packing his stuff, and driving to Peoria, IL.

He landed there demanding the world from me (Kathie). I spent several thousand dollars putting him up in motels, could not get him into apartments with his background, but was finally able to get him into a nice independent living facility, which was a one bedroom subsidized down to $330 a month for him. I helped furnished his place, paid for his storage, and so on. It was a lot of money, but I was happy to do it. I even rented a small art studio for him, but that ended up not being good enough. The script was running again, and every time he spoke with Josh, it was all about getting out of there. 

Sadly, his apartment was broken into once, and this compounded existing stress and other issues for our dad. He truly believed he was being poisoned through the ventilation system, started disturbing other residents, and began to have aggressive outbursts with staff. Josh had his own frustrations with all the help he got for dad in Oregon for him to just throw it away, and I was drained from doing the same in Peoria. At one point he packed up and began a cross-country jaunt. He went to Newport, and it was all messed up. He drove to Arizona not being able to find his sister with Josh directing him over the phone to sleep in a Safeway parking lot, then started the trek to Florida. Florida was all messed up so he went back to Peoria. 

Luckily, his apartment was still there.

Fast forward to Feb/March of 2019 in Peoria.....

I (Kathie) just got back into Peoria after helping my daughter move back there, and dad was on full freak out mode. He was not eating, losing drastic weight, going door to door telling people he was being poisoned and fighting with staff. This led to his eviction and no where for me to take him. I had to shuttle him around assisted living facilities where he could not even pass entrance tests/assessments, and he had to stay in a VA hospital for a few weeks due to his health. That only bought a few weeks, and the only place that would have accepted him was a hole, and I did not want him to be stuck there alone with Josh in Oregon and I residing in Florida.

With no options, I reached out to my brother who never had a relationship with our dad offering to pay for travel expenses to get dad to his place, and agreed to pay him with dads money in exchange for him to live there. I (Josh) felt like this was the best option, and agreed. Dad had several thousand dollars built up to cover all of this. It did not work out so well as all of our dads money was being instantly withdrawn from his account once it came in. There were no receipts for what it was being spent on, and his full monthly income would not have been needed to cover costs for dad.

When I (Josh) arrived in Florida, there was 51 cents in my dads bank account. I hit the ground running and spent everyday working on reversing the damage that was done and putting in protections so my dads money would be in his account and could build up again. After being in a hospital in Florida, our dad was put into a rehab facility. This facility would not apply for medicaid, and was going to start charging a copay of $170 a day, with an advance of 10 days needed by 6/13. Luckily, someone gave us some advice on another facility that would apply for medicaid and could take him prior to that deadline.

So that transfer occurred with us getting the medicaid application going. Also, our dads health and mobility has been improving drastically, which is great, but his internal scripts have been surfacing along with that, and he's been battling with staff to leave and so on putting all that we are trying to do for him at risk. I know a rehab facility is not the best place in the world, but there is literally no physical place for our dad to go once he cannot stay there any longer. The social worker has given us one more week, but next week the co-pays would be required and this makes no sense as it would just drain any funds that have built up for our dad again after I corrected everything.

A viable assisted living facility sent a nurse out last week to asses him, but he blatantly refused. At this point, my sister Kathie will be there in person to hopefully get him to agree to the assessment, but if he won't agree to it, or does not pass it, there is no where for him to go. I (Josh) used up all PTO to be in Florida for the time I was there, and after not having a home for years am on the verge of being able to actually move into a place with a friend. I work 8 hours a day, and cannot house him with me. I can manage all his finances, pay bills, complete applications, etc. 
 
My sister, Dad's daughter, Kathie works three 24 hour shifts as a private duty caregiver, but she can live with dad on her days off. Currently, she lives with her patient.  Kathie also has multiple sclerosis and a brain tumor that she is managing. She also lost everything in a fire last Christmas, so we would need to at least buy Dad a bed and a chair to sit in during the daytime. Unfortunately, after looking into getting an apartment, she does not meet application criteria.

So.....

It's a lot to digest, I know, but that's a very reduced version of how we got here. 

Update as of 07/05............

I (Josh) have arrived in Florida. I am renting a car this Saturday to pick my dad up and drive to Peoria, IL. We are grabbing his truck with expired registration. I was able to extend my insurance to drive it, but I'll need to get new insurance on his truck. Since I was here last, about $2,085 built up into his account, and with the generous donations, there is an extra $450. I had to buy a one-way ticket here last minute, which ran $330. It takes a few days to get access to money on here, but we have about $1,685 of his money to get through several hotel nights on the drive to the west coast, gas, and some food. I want him to have some money in hand when I leave him in Newport or Sacramento, but it won't be much.

On the plus side, he will get paid again on 7/24 and 08/01, and be back in good shape, but it would be helpful if someone could let him stay a bit or park on their property so we can get his registration renewed and truck insured again. I imagine we'll land on the West Coast towards the end of next week. He'd just need about two weeks before he gets more money, and he can be on his way if that's his prerogative with some more money in hand.

If I bring him to Sacramento, I can work with my friends to get me back to Portland, but I would need a ride back to Portland if I bring him to Newport. I can rent a car potentially, but I am losing a lot of money on this from missing work, and not having a ton of my own money.

I've dropped the goal amount as that was initially geared towards money my sister would need to potentially get into an apartment with him. Sorry for a delayed update, but the stress from all this is overwhelming.

If you can throw a few bucks in, it will make a difference. And please comment if you have a place I can bring him and his truck to for a few weeks. You will not be responsible for him if he just leaves. He wants to be back in control of where he goes no matter what we have done and tried to do for him, and I am giving that back to him because we have no other options.

............... 

For all of that have donated, thank you! It is a huge help, and any other help will go to address the aforementioned issues to find somewhere for our dad to go. Kathie is in Florida, and I in Oregon, so we can physically be in-person to assist with things if someone can house him in one of those areas. 

None of you are responsible for him, but we are, and we have to try everything we can to help him and that's why we are here asking.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and thank you for caring so much about our dad!

Kathie & Josh