Homeless retired priest Father Andy needs help!
Donation protected
Hi! I'm Father Andy Herman. My legal name is James J., but very few people use it these days.
Among many other things I've been in my life, I'm a self-retired, 73-year-old,
Roman Catholic priest.
I'm homeless here in West Los Angeles, and I work with homeless people, individually, and advocating for us with agencies and governments.
And like a lot of other people, I have medical issues. Not helped by my living situation. Not in this continuing pandemic.
My goal is to raise $2,000. For these purposes:
1- keeping me in a cheaper motel room for as long as I can, so I can continue the LASIX therapy that is necessary for me to combat my congestive heart failure.
LASIX therapy means getting excess water out of your body. Rapidly.
And that doesn't happen by perspiring.
You need a bathroom very, very close.
Was having an extremely difficult time
doing this while living out of my car
Among many other things I've been in my life, I'm a self-retired, 73-year-old,
Roman Catholic priest.
I'm homeless here in West Los Angeles, and I work with homeless people, individually, and advocating for us with agencies and governments.
And like a lot of other people, I have medical issues. Not helped by my living situation. Not in this continuing pandemic.
My goal is to raise $2,000. For these purposes:
1- keeping me in a cheaper motel room for as long as I can, so I can continue the LASIX therapy that is necessary for me to combat my congestive heart failure.
LASIX therapy means getting excess water out of your body. Rapidly.
And that doesn't happen by perspiring.
You need a bathroom very, very close.
Was having an extremely difficult time
doing this while living out of my car
recently
because my 98 Jeep Grand Cherokee is dead. Can't be fixed.
2- keeping me in the motel for as long as I can, so while doing that therapy,
I can also daily continue my search for both
another used SUV,
and, of course,
for almost nonexistent housing.
Also, so I can keep in touch with the people I counsel, both homeless and "homed", and keep advocating for what I and others need.
This is a critical month for policy and legal input to help alleviate this absurd homeless situation.
And I need to continue to be part of that on behalf of myself and others.
Can you help me?
My $2,000. goal will get me to the end of the first week of March.
And if by any chance your donations go over my goal, I'll either keep trying to stay longer, and/or put that toward another used car.
Because of the seriousness of my medical condition if left untreated,
I really don't want to go back to my car to live out of.
But because of the lack of housing, and because there are people in an extremely worse position than I am,
Father Andy Herman
PS:. I apologize for the cheezy photo.
It's the camera on my cheap phone.
I look much better than that in real life.
(Yeah. Sure. I dream on.)
because my 98 Jeep Grand Cherokee is dead. Can't be fixed.
2- keeping me in the motel for as long as I can, so while doing that therapy,
I can also daily continue my search for both
another used SUV,
and, of course,
for almost nonexistent housing.
Also, so I can keep in touch with the people I counsel, both homeless and "homed", and keep advocating for what I and others need.
This is a critical month for policy and legal input to help alleviate this absurd homeless situation.
And I need to continue to be part of that on behalf of myself and others.
Can you help me?
My $2,000. goal will get me to the end of the first week of March.
And if by any chance your donations go over my goal, I'll either keep trying to stay longer, and/or put that toward another used car.
Because of the seriousness of my medical condition if left untreated,
I really don't want to go back to my car to live out of.
But because of the lack of housing, and because there are people in an extremely worse position than I am,
that may be a pipe dream right now.
But at least I can go back to where I was with a better physical baseline,
And be mobile in another vehicle,
which is critical to my being able to survive and serve others.
Can you help? I will be extremely grateful for any support you can give.
By the way, I self-retired as a priest, and am no longer affiliated with either
my former vowed religious community, or with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, because
I made a vow as an only child that I would never let my parents be put in a nursing home as their health declined.
And that's what I did for 17 years.
Pulled myself out of the institutional Church loop, and took care of my mom and dad 24/7. My dad died in 2003 at 85, my mom 11 years later at 96.
Best thing I've ever done with my life
although it landed me up homeless
because even though helped by some great friends during that time, when it was over, I had no money.
And the rentals here in LA went through the roof, I couldn't afford them, and so became homeless in September of 2017.
But I'm never a victim. This is a situation faced by thousands of people.
And I'm a very strong person.
My outlook on life and my faith tell me I'm supposed to be here right now.
I would have never met the people I now know, not done the very public work I've done.
I know it sounds odd,
but I'm very, very happy.
But medically, my life has gotten to a point where I must take care of myself or I'm not going to last very long.
So I'm asking if you'd be kind enough to help me stay inside for a while,
so that I can continue my LASIX therapy, and do the other things I can do in terms of getting
a vehicle and housing.
I have had extraordinary friends, when first homeless, and now, and some of them, together with my meager monthly government benefits, got me to this motel
two weeks ago.
And the results are stunning.
For the first time in three and a half years, I'm able to keep getting, day by day,
the edema, the swelling because of water retention, in my legs, down and down more.
That swelling comes as a result of the veins in my lower legs not working.
I was cut by a lawn sprinkling system I stumbled into while running backwards
to avoid two cars that had collided and we're heading right for me on a sidewalk! True story! I was lucky.
Getting rid of the water means my heart does not have to work so hard.
And for the first time in two and a half years, I drew a completely full breath.
For unknown reasons, I have chronic anemia, and shortness of breath because of it.
But being here in the motel for 2 weeks and being able to get a good night's sleep,
Has given me that gift as well.
So please, if you're able to, help me to keep going, both here and after I leave here.
I need to keep going not only for myself, but so that I can help other people.
Thank you in advance for anything you're able to do!
If you have any questions, let me know.
And by the way, the only possibly good thing about living out of your car as a homeless person, is the mobil isolation it has provided me during this pandemic.
I have been coronavirus free,
And will get my second shot on 2/23
At UCLA.
Thank you so much for even reading this.
Enjoy every minute of your day,
and may God, life, the universe, karma,
bless, and keep you happy, healthy, and safe.
But at least I can go back to where I was with a better physical baseline,
And be mobile in another vehicle,
which is critical to my being able to survive and serve others.
Can you help? I will be extremely grateful for any support you can give.
By the way, I self-retired as a priest, and am no longer affiliated with either
my former vowed religious community, or with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, because
I made a vow as an only child that I would never let my parents be put in a nursing home as their health declined.
And that's what I did for 17 years.
Pulled myself out of the institutional Church loop, and took care of my mom and dad 24/7. My dad died in 2003 at 85, my mom 11 years later at 96.
Best thing I've ever done with my life
although it landed me up homeless
because even though helped by some great friends during that time, when it was over, I had no money.
And the rentals here in LA went through the roof, I couldn't afford them, and so became homeless in September of 2017.
But I'm never a victim. This is a situation faced by thousands of people.
And I'm a very strong person.
My outlook on life and my faith tell me I'm supposed to be here right now.
I would have never met the people I now know, not done the very public work I've done.
I know it sounds odd,
but I'm very, very happy.
But medically, my life has gotten to a point where I must take care of myself or I'm not going to last very long.
So I'm asking if you'd be kind enough to help me stay inside for a while,
so that I can continue my LASIX therapy, and do the other things I can do in terms of getting
a vehicle and housing.
I have had extraordinary friends, when first homeless, and now, and some of them, together with my meager monthly government benefits, got me to this motel
two weeks ago.
And the results are stunning.
For the first time in three and a half years, I'm able to keep getting, day by day,
the edema, the swelling because of water retention, in my legs, down and down more.
That swelling comes as a result of the veins in my lower legs not working.
I was cut by a lawn sprinkling system I stumbled into while running backwards
to avoid two cars that had collided and we're heading right for me on a sidewalk! True story! I was lucky.
Getting rid of the water means my heart does not have to work so hard.
And for the first time in two and a half years, I drew a completely full breath.
For unknown reasons, I have chronic anemia, and shortness of breath because of it.
But being here in the motel for 2 weeks and being able to get a good night's sleep,
Has given me that gift as well.
So please, if you're able to, help me to keep going, both here and after I leave here.
I need to keep going not only for myself, but so that I can help other people.
Thank you in advance for anything you're able to do!
If you have any questions, let me know.
And by the way, the only possibly good thing about living out of your car as a homeless person, is the mobil isolation it has provided me during this pandemic.
I have been coronavirus free,
And will get my second shot on 2/23
At UCLA.
Thank you so much for even reading this.
Enjoy every minute of your day,
and may God, life, the universe, karma,
bless, and keep you happy, healthy, and safe.
Father Andy Herman
PS:. I apologize for the cheezy photo.
It's the camera on my cheap phone.
I look much better than that in real life.
(Yeah. Sure. I dream on.)
Organizer and beneficiary
James Herman
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA
Nathan Bartley
Beneficiary