Six years ago ya'll saved my ass from cancer.

Today I'm asking you to help me save my friend Bill's ass.

My wife met Bill eight years ago. She was a Job Specialist for Vocational Rehab and Bill was a client. She helped him find a job as a "maintenance person" (janitor) for a grocery store and coached him with his employer for six months to insure he "stuck". He still works there. He's a pleasant person, hard working, and good natured. Everyone loves him. After my wife's "client" relationship with him ended, we all stayed friends. Bill has no family except us. We have him over for holidays and try to go out for lunch with him every week.

Bill is disabled. He has brain damage from birth, had a tumor removed from his brain that disfigured and affected the sight in his left eye. He has seizures that put him in the hospital for days. He was abused as a child and spent years in foster care. But he didn't cave in because he loved to work. He was a line cook for a Holiday Inn restaurant for twenty years. Then he slipped on some ice and smashed his head. He ended up on Social Security Disability and in State assistance programs. But he wanted to work again. He hates being "on the dole". So he got into the Vocational Rehab program.

He cannot drive, has cognitive impairments and memory issues so we help him with getting to (and understanding) his doctors' and social services appointments, filling his daily medication box (he's on 11 meds), filling out his State/Federal assistance programs' paperwork, keep track of his banking, work schedule, etc. We always go out for lunch after his appointments. It's a bright spot in our week.

Five years ago he began getting paranoid. He'd call us several times a day and say, "Something really strange is going on...." Strangers were sending "messages" to him through his TV, hacking his cell phone, planes flying overhead were reading his thoughts, school busses stopped in front of his house to spy on him. He started changing his cell phone number and email address and didn't keep track of his login and passwords (which made it impossible to get into his State, Federal, medical, and employment accounts because of 2FA...we're STILL dealing with that.) We got him committed to a psychiatric hospital. He was diagnosed as severely mentally ill and discharged with meds (that help) and a "plan". He was assigned to a State Social Service agency and a Social Worker for the mentally ill.

What was supposed to help him has become a nightmare.

The very short story is (and it's a long one), because of his Social Worker's "help" he LOST his Social Security Disability (and had to pay BACK almost 3,000.00), and has lost almost all of his State Medicaid assistance. He has fallen through just about every "crack" in the disability/mental health assistance programs because of the "help" he has gotten. And because of all of his mental impairments there is no freaking way he can navigate all of the paperwork, hoops, meetings, documents and appointments he has to juggle to stay working and keep his remaining assistance programs. He would literally be homeless and dead by now if he was left on his own.

Now... he has prostate cancer. He has begun having more seizures (we think related to his medications and procedures, but his neurologist and urologist just shrug). Because he lost his State disability Medicaid subsidy he has to pay co-pays. He cannot pay them because he is limited to working 32 hours/week. If he works more, he will lose the rest of his State Disability Assistance programs like the health insurance he has, his subsidized housing, and a transportation subsidy that pays part of his fares to get him to and from work. (Without that, just his transportation to get to work would eat up a big chunk of his paycheck.)

His seizures put him in the hospital for 3-4 days at a time. He has used up all of his medical leave, vacation and personal time. Now he just has to take the hit on his hours. His employer is VERY accommodating and compassionate, so he will not lose his job. But, he is now on the hook for 250.00 co-pays for the ambulance rides, 275.00/day for the hospital stays, not to mention things like a 1,400.00 co-pay for a CT-Scan, and co-pays for his other procedures and treatments. (Of course we are trying to negotiate all this with all of his providers for him...we have Medical and Financial Powers of Attorney.)

So far he has racked up almost 6,000.00 of debt related to his medical issues. He has another 5-6 months of treatments left. We have no idea how many more seizures he might have. And, oh.... he's also been diagnosed with early onset of Alzheimer's because of all of his brain injuries. He's 58.

He could give up and go back on total disability again.

But he doesn't want to sit on his ass. He just wants to stay on his feet as long as he can.

Can you help us give him a hand?

Thanks!