- T
I've never been one to ask for help. I don't really know how. But, I am asking you now...
For those of you who know, in the last 4 years, I lost track of my brother Eric. I finally could find him about a month ago. As it is, over the last 4 years, Eric has fallen deeper and deeper into poverty and I found him living in a tent on Skid Row -- unshaven, unwashed, in old and tattered clothes, with a half empty backpack where he kept his very few belongings. Eric est SDF...
Eric smiles and he jokes. He tries to keep clean, but Eric is one of the 66,500 homeless in Los Angeles. He is lost, broken, alone and no longer counted as part of society. He doesn't own a toothbrush, nor the most basic toilet paper. Because of Covid restrictions, public showers, toilets, and hot meals are luxuries of the past. It hasn't been easy trying to wrap my head around my brother's predicament, butI have been trying to rebuild the trust between us but it's not easy. Eric has tremendous anxiety.
A little over a year ago, he tried to end his life but he was unsuccessful and so he is now medicated by County Health and must meet with a County social worker weekly. I say this to say, Eric needs everything. LA County is overwhelmed. The care they provide is inadequate. Eric is at great risk. He is both physically (il pèse 55kg) and mentally in at very precarious impasse.
Given his background, Eric has been subject to physical and mental harassment on a daily basis during his hardships. He panhandles on the outskirts of Skid Row. But, with Covid, there are fewer people downtown LA, there is less money. Eric fait la manche donc... J'avoue que j'ai du mal avec ces mots... So, Eric is often looking for food in trash cans and the sidewalk, only able to to try and eat something often no more than every other day.
I need to get my parents' son off the floor, out of the tent and into something more substantial as soon as possible. But I can't just yank him off the street into a guest room... He needs to slowly get acclimated to change so as not to cause him any more anxiety, he needs process his misfortune and the death of our parents that he has not yet come to terms with.
We think we'll be converting an older, inconspicuous, minivan into a camper. Park it where there is easy access to restrooms. Fill it up with food. Clothe him. Make sure he is able to take a shower and shave at least once a week to slowly reintegrate him. Le minimum quoi, parce qu'en fait, là, il ne peut pas gérer plus.
And then... Everything else. Medical, mental, immigration. Job. A permanent place to call home.
But, right now, I need you. Eric pouvait être difficil et parfois mauvais, mais c'était Eric... Eric has lost his place in the world. He has lost his faith in who he was -- he doesn't know who is anymore. I need your help to save my brother, to show him that we still care, that we won't turn away from this homeless man who was once -- and still is, one of our own.
- Help me bring my brother back from oblivion.
Give if you can, share if you can... even a little helps a lot. And most of all, your participation will help my brother realize that the world still cares. That WE still care, we never stopped.
In this mad and complicated world, I want you know that I am grateful for each and everyone of you. I am blessed to call you my friends. And for those of you may not know, I am forever in you debt.
Love and Light
Je vous aime tous très fort
For those of you who know, in the last 4 years, I lost track of my brother Eric. I finally could find him about a month ago. As it is, over the last 4 years, Eric has fallen deeper and deeper into poverty and I found him living in a tent on Skid Row -- unshaven, unwashed, in old and tattered clothes, with a half empty backpack where he kept his very few belongings. Eric est SDF...
Eric smiles and he jokes. He tries to keep clean, but Eric is one of the 66,500 homeless in Los Angeles. He is lost, broken, alone and no longer counted as part of society. He doesn't own a toothbrush, nor the most basic toilet paper. Because of Covid restrictions, public showers, toilets, and hot meals are luxuries of the past. It hasn't been easy trying to wrap my head around my brother's predicament, butI have been trying to rebuild the trust between us but it's not easy. Eric has tremendous anxiety.
A little over a year ago, he tried to end his life but he was unsuccessful and so he is now medicated by County Health and must meet with a County social worker weekly. I say this to say, Eric needs everything. LA County is overwhelmed. The care they provide is inadequate. Eric is at great risk. He is both physically (il pèse 55kg) and mentally in at very precarious impasse.
Given his background, Eric has been subject to physical and mental harassment on a daily basis during his hardships. He panhandles on the outskirts of Skid Row. But, with Covid, there are fewer people downtown LA, there is less money. Eric fait la manche donc... J'avoue que j'ai du mal avec ces mots... So, Eric is often looking for food in trash cans and the sidewalk, only able to to try and eat something often no more than every other day.
I need to get my parents' son off the floor, out of the tent and into something more substantial as soon as possible. But I can't just yank him off the street into a guest room... He needs to slowly get acclimated to change so as not to cause him any more anxiety, he needs process his misfortune and the death of our parents that he has not yet come to terms with.
We think we'll be converting an older, inconspicuous, minivan into a camper. Park it where there is easy access to restrooms. Fill it up with food. Clothe him. Make sure he is able to take a shower and shave at least once a week to slowly reintegrate him. Le minimum quoi, parce qu'en fait, là, il ne peut pas gérer plus.
And then... Everything else. Medical, mental, immigration. Job. A permanent place to call home.
But, right now, I need you. Eric pouvait être difficil et parfois mauvais, mais c'était Eric... Eric has lost his place in the world. He has lost his faith in who he was -- he doesn't know who is anymore. I need your help to save my brother, to show him that we still care, that we won't turn away from this homeless man who was once -- and still is, one of our own.
- Help me bring my brother back from oblivion.
Give if you can, share if you can... even a little helps a lot. And most of all, your participation will help my brother realize that the world still cares. That WE still care, we never stopped.
In this mad and complicated world, I want you know that I am grateful for each and everyone of you. I am blessed to call you my friends. And for those of you may not know, I am forever in you debt.
Love and Light
Je vous aime tous très fort
Organizer and beneficiary
Brian Chapman
Beneficiary