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Janusz B. was barefoot and incoherent when I found him aimlessly repositioning traffic cones in the street on Sunday morning, because a homeless neighbor send me a concerned text message. By the evening, we learned he had been hospitalized, and his family was struggling to get him back to his home in Las Vegas because of his lack of ID, his state of mind, and his command of the English language. In a situation that would have become more complicated with each passing day, several people in the community came together, and saw to it that he was on a plane home by Monday evening.
A brief overview of who jumped in to make this happen:
- Nick, a homeless neighbor found Janusz phone and gave it to me, Matt
- I brought Janusz into the garden across the street, got him food, water, shoes, and clothes from Philly AIDS Thrift, recharged his phone, and reached out for help on Facebook. I coordinated between everyone to make sure Janusz was
- Mike, a retired Marine who tends the vegetable garden, took turns with me, watching Janusz, and put him up overnight in his studio apartment, with lots of conversation and strong black coffee
- Ania, a nutritionist and life coach, saw my request for Polish translation help, met us in the park, drove us to the police station, and the next day, took us back to the station, cooked a nourishing meal in her home, drove us to the airport and helped coordinate the process of dealing with the TSA. Ania immediately offered to pay for Janusz's flight home
- Tim, Ania's partner and a private pilot, printed hard copies of Janusz's driver's license and green card, and also drove to the airport in order to escort Janusz on to the plane, and stayed until he saw the plane take off
Honorable mentions:
- My neighbor Dave, who reached out into his connections in the Polish community, and offered to help pay for the plane ticket
- The officer at the intake window at the 6th District
- The patient and sympathetic TSA staff who convinced the less sympathetic TSA staff to make an exception
We all just wanted to resolve this situation as quickly as possible, and many people offered to help along the way. I offered to split the cost of the ticket with Ania, and then ended up paying for the ticket while she was managing the TSA situation. Almost everyone I've talked to has offered to help pay for the ticket. I figure... let's just put up a GoFundMe. If no one contributes, that's fine, and if people want to contribute, that's just "many hands make light work" playing out.
The purpose of this GoFundMe is not personal reward, it's just giving an opportunity to contribute after the fact to what was a very fast moving emergency operation by my selfless neighbors.
Here's what was spent out of pocket:
- $273.99 - a one-way direct flight to Vegas on Spirit Airlines
- $15 - two sets of clothes from Philly AIDS Thrift
- $34 - short term airport parking ($19+$15)
- $14 - Lyft to the thrift shop, bus back home
- $25 - food and groceries
The $350 goal I've set is so I can reimburse Ania, Tim, and myself. I've never run a GoFundMe before, but if we go into "Stretch Goal" territory, I'll set cash aside for Mike for sharing his apartment, as well as Nick, who found the phone on his way to panhandle on the corner of 2nd and Callowhill. Shortly after Nick recovered the phone, sanitation works came around and collected the trash. Without Nick's early morning action, I think Janusz's future would have been very bleak.
If you are interested in contributing, please don't go overboard - we feel really good about what we did, hopefully you find the story inspiring, but often times when a fundraiser exceeds its goals without plans for the overages, that can cause its own set of complicated issues. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Organizer
