This is me with my friend Albert. He's a marine veteran, honorably discharged for medical issues. He's disabled (he walks with a cane as the result of a serious back injury), has COPD and diabetes. He gets VA medical care and support for housing, but he frequently doesn't have money for food or medication.
If you live in the East Bay, you may have seen Albert in front of Pastime Hardware on San Pablo in Albany. He's not really panhandling; he just stands there with his VA card in one hand and his inhaler in the other. When he can't stand any more, he sits on a bus bench and uses his inhaler until he’s strong enough to stand again.
He’s not homeless, he’s not an alcoholic or an addict, he doesn’t have psychological problems. He’s just a sick old man who served his country and has fallen between the cracks and hasn’t known how to get the help he needs. I did some investigating, starting with the VA website, and once I gave him some information, he’s taken action on his own behalf.
He thought that if he got food stamps, his VA benefits would be docked $200 a month, but I found that’s not true, so he’s applied for and been granted $136 a month in SNAP benefits, but he won’t get those until the end of this month. He was under the impression that he shouldn’t get a COVID vaccine because of his COPD, but now he’s fully vaccinated. Someone from the VA helped him apply for other benefits, but he won’t get those until December. He told me yesterday that he’ll also be getting a delivery of twenty-five pounds of food a week starting soon.
There are also significant problems with Albert’s housing. He lives in a room in an apartment building in Oakland that’s supposed to be VA housing, but he doesn't feel safe there. He says there are people there who don’t belong, and someone stole a package containing some kind of oxygen device that had been shipped to him. There are also six or eight steps up from the street. He's having severe problems right now with his back and neck, and the doctor told him they’re caused by his having to negotiate the stairs, which he does frequently to get some air because his apartment is hot. I got him a VA housing hotline phone number, which he’s called, but he hasn’t yet received a response. He needs help at home with bathing and cleaning house, and so far I haven’t found a source for that.
Here’s how Albert and I became friends:
He was standing in front of Pastime Hardware when I went there on June 29. I'd seen him there before and I'd always given him a few dollars. Seeing him always broke my heart and made me imagine my 84-year-old disabled father (who I lost in September) having to stand on the street begging.
On June 29, I gave Albert $10 on my way in to the store, and when I came out, I gave him another $20 and asked if I could buy him something to eat and drink. He asked for Popeye's Chicken, so I went to get it and also bought a $100 gift card.
On my way back with the food, I realized I couldn’t just walk away. I asked Albert if I could sit and talk to him. He said yes and set the bag of food aside. I urged him to eat; he said he would eat it when he got home if that was alright. I told him I'd bought him eleven pieces of chicken, so there was plenty to eat some now and again later, so he ate a piece. (He’s told me since that he eats only once a day.)
I asked his name; he told me, and showed me his VA card. (He’s leery of Facebook and Go Fund Me, so I’m only using his first name).
I asked if he had family or anyone who was helping him. He said no; his mother had died three months before and he had no one. He’s told me since then that his wife died in 2007, and it took him a long time to get over that loss. I took down his phone number and address and gave him mine and asked him to call me if he needed help. I promised him I wouldn’t let him go hungry or have to beg to get money for food.
I wrote to my city council rep to ask for advice about how to help him. Her office gave me the contact information for Albert’s city council rep, who didn’t respond to two emails.
Since then, I’ve spent time with Albert in person about five times and spoken to him by phone frequently. He told me he was a preacher for thirty years, and I can well believe it. He’s a soulful and sweet person, and I enjoy his company. I’ve continued to give him money for food and medicine over the last two months. He calls me his guardian angel and is reluctant to ask for help even when he’s in dire straits. I called him a few weeks ago and he said he was in front of Pastime because he needed money to pay for a medical device. He’d been there for three hours and only gotten $6 and was near tears. I asked why he hadn’t called me, and he said he didn’t want to because I’d already done so much for him.
A couple of weeks ago, a neighbor of his offered to sell him a car in good mechanical condition for $700, and I fronted much of that so he didn’t lose the opportunity. He’s been getting rides from some service to medical appointments, but being able to get around by himself will help him tremendously, though now he’ll need money for gas and insurance.
I’m continuing to work with Albert to find other help and benefits, but he needs more support than I can continue to give him indefinitely, and I’m worried about him being on his own when I’ll be out of the country for six weeks in September and October, though I’ve told him he can call me.
I'd be grateful for any help you can give my friend or any sources of support you can recommend.
Before I go, I’m going to take Albert out for a belated birthday meal (his birthday was August 9). I’d like to be able to give him some money then to help him keep his head above water for several months. And I’d love to have you join us and make his birthday a real party.
