House Tim Busby during his chemo treatment

Tim Busby is a frequent contributor to Street Spirit and a friend of mine. He is currently undergoing Chemotherapy for a cancerous mass in his neck. He is unsheltered, and we want to make sure he will have housing for the duration of his treatment, which will be very physically taxing.

Tim's insurance has agreed to pay to house him at the hospital for the majority of his chemo, but there is a period time toward the end of his treatment where it looks like he will be back out on the street. This period will coincide with the most painful part of his treatment. He should be housed during this period, so I am raising money to put him up in a motel once he is discharged from the hospital.

Tim has already tried to secure housing in a Shelter-in-Place hotel but has been unsuccessful. While there are shelter beds available, he is not comfortable with the idea of staying in a congregate setting during the coronavirus pandemic, while his immune system will be so vulnerable. (Given the fact that there have already been a handful of COVID outbreaks at homeless shelters, I think he's right to be concerned.)

This money will cover  his hotel stay as well as other essential costs (food, transportation, etc). If his insurance comes through at the eleventh hour, or we end up with extra funds, I will donate them to mobile health/crisis teams in the East Bay such as MH First and QUICC.org.

Thank you so much for your consideration. Here are some of the articles Tim has written for Street Spirit if you'd like to get to know him better:

https://thestreetspirit.org/2020/11/03/the-five-steps-to-becoming-homeless-this-could-be-you/

https://thestreetspirit.org/2019/11/01/is-berkeleys-shared-sidewalk-ordinance-working/

https://thestreetspirit.org/2019/12/01/hating-the-holidays/
 
https://thestreetspirit.org/2019/11/01/the-homeless-shuffle-enough-is-enough/

https://thestreetspirit.org/2020/03/01/berkeleys-downtown-streets-team-helps-people-learn-how-to-care-again/