Help Melvin Floyd fight heart failure

The coming months for the Floyd family are going to be tough as Melvin prepares for surgery and the Floyd family tries to rebuild their finances. Since being sent home from the hospital, Melvin has been in and out of the emergency room as fluid builds up around his heart. We spoke with the Floyd family yesterday, and even now Melvin is currently in the ER with elevated heart rate and pain in his chest. Medical bills are piling up as they wait for insurance to kick in and I can't even imagine how scary a situation this must be.

Before this medical catastrophe, the Floyd family went through a financial literacy and homeownership class with The REACH Project in hopes they would soon be able to purchase a house. Mr. Melvin and his wife Lisa were well on their way to make this purchase and were building up their savings to hopefully make a deposit. Now, in order to accomplish this goal, the Floyds will have to pay off the mountain of medical bills first. Any savings they had built up previously are long gone, spent in order to pay for the care that is keeping Mr. Melvin alive. This has upended their life completely, and for weeks now Melvin has not been able to work and Mrs. Lisa has had to stay home most days to take care of him, leaving the Floyd family with little income to support them.

That being said, I want to thank everyone who has shared and donated to Melvin and his family so far. The support has been insane and the Floyd family can't believe how much support they have received already and how much the community has been able to help spread the word about this disastrous situation! I encourage everyone to please continue sharing and supporting Melvin and his family in this long road to recovery.

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A beloved member of our community, Mr. Melvin Floyd's heart is failing and he is currently fighting for his life. To make things even worse, he and his family are on the verge of financial catastrophe and possible eviction, and he needs our help as an Aggie family!

 

 

Mr. Melvin is a member of the night crew that cleans the Langford Architecture Building on the Texas A&M campus and has been a leader on his crew for the past 7 years. On Thursday October 14th I was sharing a meal with his custodial night crew when I met Mr. Melvin Floyd. While sharing some Schlotzky's pizza with him and his coworkers, I noticed that Mr. Floyd was sweating, and looked very uncomfortable. Not sure what was going on and very concerned, I went up to him and asked if he was feeling okay.

 

Mr. Melvin told me that he felt some pain in his chest, was short of breath and that he was feeling like he might faint. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he didn’t want to disrupt the dinner that we were all sharing. Knowing that something was wrong I told Mr. Melvin not to worry about us and that he needed to take care of himself.

 

Thankfully he took this advice and agreed to leave his shift early and go to the hospital and thank god that he did! Upon arrival at the hospital, Mr. Melvin began to get worse and it was not long before we learned that he was suffering from late stage heart failure right before our eyes.

 

 

This is when Mr. Melvin’s journey really began. Mr. Melvin and his wife Mrs. Lisa both work on the Texas A&M campus and they can’t afford the health options provided by their employer. They are the parents of three young men, and with the decision between purchasing a basic health plan for $711 a month or ensuring they could keep a roof over their heads, pay their bills, and feed their family, the decision seemed easy.

 

 

Mr. Melvin was eventually life-flighted for open heart surgery to Houston’s Medical Center, but upon arrival was told that the surgery could not be done until a temporary insurance plan was in place. Scraping together every spare penny they had, they purchased the plan, but were told it would not take effect for another 30 days and they would have to go home and wait.

 

Unable to stay at the hospital any longer and his heart not in any better condition, Melvin is now on bed rest and at home until his insurance kicks in and he can finally undergo surgery on December 1st. This is not a situation any family should be faced with, having to pray he makes it through until then while taking care of him as best as they can. To make matters even worse and with all of their savings going towards life-saving medications, the trip to the Houston medical center, and the medical bills that have already accumulated, the Floyd family is now facing eviction.

 

 

Mr. Melvin’s journey to recovery has not even begun and he is already worrying about being kicked out on the street. Mr. Melvin and his family not only need help paying for rent but for the incredible amount of medical bills that have already started building up!

 

We ask that you join us in supporting this Essential member of our Aggie Family and donate anything that you can. Every penny will make a huge difference and could quite literally save a life!

 

Please HELP US as a community in supporting the Floyd family through these tough times!

 

You can help make a difference:

 

 

All money raised will go straight to Melvin and his family as they fight through this.

 

Please share this far and wide and let’s lean on our Aggie family to do what we do best, serve those who deserve it the most!

 

Thanks & Gig’em