Survival/Care for Disabled Brother

Two young men, Jeremiah Manson (26) and Zachariah Manson (24), were both involved in a tragic car accident over 9 years ago.  To save Jeremy’s life both legs were amputated, he lost the use of his right arm and, to this day, suffers from chronic nerve pain.  He is dependent on his family to provide care for him and is essentially bedridden in his hospital-style bed.  However, he has a power wheelchair that is customized specially for him which allows him to get up and around during the day, until he suffers from too much pain and must get back in bed.  Even after the long and painful process of rehabilitation he has gone through, and is more or less ongoing to this day, he has maintained a remarkably positive outlook on life that most would find to be unreal for someone in his position. The younger brother, Zack, was in the same car accident and though he only suffered more minor injuries, such as a shattered femur, broken wrist and ankle, his life was also spared that night although he lost his friend, Alex Ervin, because Zack let Alex sit in the front seat of the car instead of him.  After his recovery he has been there taking care of his older brother ever since.

 Just under two weeks ago, Jeremy and Zack were struck with heartbreaking tragedy, when on the morning of December 9th Zack went to wake his father up only to find that their father had died of a massive stress-induced heart attack overnight. The two of them were completely devastated at the loss of their father and have no idea what they are to do. A good friend of their father offered to take them into his home, giving them a place to stay for now, but they require an extraordinary amount of help. Their money nearly depleted, the only source of income they had gone, Jeremy's wheelchair van needing a lot of maintenance and new tires, Medicaid not paying for any of their father’s funeral costs and bills and financial needs continuing to follow them. Zack is left alone to provide the round the clock care that his brother requires and with no way of having time to get another job they are stuck; broken, mournful and lost.

The two brothers moved to Colorado a little over two years ago with their father, Seth Manson.  Since arriving in Denver originally, they have had a very rough time trying to make it out there as finding housing that is both affordable and handicap accessible has proven to be virtually nonexistent for them.  Almost the entire year of 2016 they have been essentially homeless, having lived out of hotels for a while and then being lucky enough to find an affordable 5th wheel camper to purchase to live in, and being a toy hauler it allowed Jeremy to get in with his wheelchair from the ramp in the back.  Although they managed to put a roof over their heads, back in June Jeremy’s caretaker payroll benefits, which provided the family with their only source of income for taking care of him, was cut off and never reinstated.  Six months later, after having bounced around from campgrounds in Denver all the way down to Pueblo and Canon City, the family has all but exhausted what money they had saved.

 They are reaching out to tell their story, so much in need and now left with so very little.  Effectively homeless, disabled and isolated and far too easy for most to simply ignore or forget about.  Please reach out to Jeremy and Zack and help to give them some kind of hope that they will get through this with the help of others and that things will turn out okay for them.