Get Teal Back On His Feet

When Teena Arnette died three weeks ago with her dog Shadow by her side, it was a major financial blow to her adult son, our childhood friend Teal Scott. During her illness he lived with her as a round-the-clock caregiver in the small house her father built by the Ventura Freeway— these days a little worse for wear. He’s been fighting for years to start a small business, despite poverty and epileptic seizures. Now his mother’s death has left him with a ton of bills.

“I never realized how expensive it was to die in America,” he told me the other day.

As kids we’d cross the railroad bridge together over the Ventura River, trying to make it to the land before the train came. After playing Ultima V we’d drive over to the house where Teal lived with his mom, a lifetime smoker who had been injured in a workplace accident. As a former darkroom tech, she’d taught Teal his craft. 

Up until two years ago, Teal was starting to put together a printing and photography business. Then came his mom’s first diagnosis -- for COPD. He dropped everything to care for her. 

Then things took an unexpected turn this year. The family was already on thin financial ice when they learned her pain had been masking cancer. When Teal had to make a decision this fall about whether to call for an emergency ambulance ride, the stress brought on one of his severe seizures, the kind that can leave him paralyzed for hours or make him lose teeth. Her trip to the hospital ended up costing $600.

Four days after her cancer diagnosis, Teena came home. “Money concerns,” explains Teal. He was now her hospice worker. Around the clock he made sure she was as comfortable as she could be, that she could eat more than a few mouthfuls. He slept in short bursts to keep his mother comfortable and without pain or panic, and administered morphine. At the beginning of December she passed away.

Now Teal wants to get back into the workforce while starting up his side business as a professional poster printer. He’d love to be able to do it in a clean, fresh home office that isn’t falling apart and overflowing with decades of clutter. COVID-19 has killed venues for the stage jobs he’s good at. He has a hard time getting around town. But he’ll find something if he can get a chance to pay these bills.

Here’s what he needs. First, help paying for the costs of Teena’s ambulance ($600) , cremation ($1,250) and burial plot ($4,200). 

Second, help making the house on Beene Road habitable. It has a termite infestation, the electrics are busted and Teal estimates that about 70 percent of the floor is caving in and falling apart. Third, he wants to rent a Dumpster to clear out the clutter that has filled up the place.

And fourth, he needs to avoid losing the house. There’s a property tax bill due in April and he’s broke.

If there is any chance you could support our GoFundMe by making a donation and sharing it with your network, it would make a difference to give Teal a clean start. Even a small gift will help. We will be happy to answer any questions.