Shelter and Care for Alfred Turnipseed

Below is a description of the current and rather urgent situation of my friend Alfred Turnipseed (and, yes, that is his real name). His fortunes and his health have been bad for the past few years, and in this very parsimonious state (at least, where the social safety net is concerned) his situation is especially perilous. Despite having suffered a congestive heart failure six years ago, which would technically make him eligible for some assistance under the law, Indiana has refused his application for relief for both his healthcare costs and housing costs. Needless to say, though he is employed, there are severe limits to what he can do. This is a common enough story in many places in America, where the application process for benefits is made as difficult and slow as possible, on the actuarial assumption that many applicants will die before finally being approved. A seven-year wait is not uncommon. Anyway, if you can give, please do so; if not, please pass the appeal along. And many thanks.

DBH

From Alfred:

I just learned that the landlord and landlady of the apartment where I have been living since January 2023 are doing renovations, in view of leasing it at a much higher rental rate beginning September 2025. Consequently, they want me to vacate no later than August 30. I suffer from congestive heart failure and type II diabetes, I live on a very limited budget (as I am quite underemployed), and, as this new situation has caught me flat-footed, I do not have any monies to finance a move and to find new living arrangements (much less storage for my belongings).

I am a 57 year old, single, Melkite Catholic Christian. I have never been married and I have no children (and my only pet, Congo the Cat, died this past April). My dream is that before our Lord calls me home, I will become an oblate or a lay associate of a Marian-monastic community, so that I might spend the rest of my years in prayer, serving God and interceding for His people (cf. Genesis 18), “and in my own body … completing the sufferings that still must be undergone by Christ for the sake of His Body, the Church” (Colossians 1:24).

I do trust our Lord and in the generosity of His people, the saints, who live by His Spirit. So I am reaching out and asking for help.

Thank you and God bless you,

Alfred D. Turnipseed