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It's bad, y'all. Troy needs long-term support.
Our dear friend Troy Howard had a damn heart attack. Then he got walloped with a bill for $60,000 . He's recovering, but is still at high risk of a severe, fatal heart attack. Meanwhile, he's unable to work and needs long-term support.
Troy NEVER asks for help; we know him as the guy who GIVES it without delay or asking anything in return. He’s basically a big orange cat, and cats don’t let you know they’re not ok.
But helpers need help, too. Let’s step up and help the guy who helps everyone else in his St. Louis, MO and Portland, OR communities! Our donations will:
- Reduce his stress (a huge factor for heart health),
- Allow him the rest he frankly needs to survive,
- And keep him and his family afloat while he seeks care.
You may know Troy as having comfortable resources. But:
- He’s already been out of work 6 months - and has no medical insurance.
- He can’t work while recovering and seeking treatment. It could be years.
- And he has poured himself into supporting his mother, recently diagnosed with lymphoma and colon cancer, and his adorable sister, who requires 24-hr care due to Angelman’s Syndrome—traveling PDX <-> St Louis every couple months—for 2 years now.
…All while being a ❤️ dad to a super-smart-cookie in her first year of college, and a superstar creative teen at home.
In his own words:
"I will need to regularly be at the cardiologist. I am going to be in serious danger for quite a while and may not be able to work."
"My recovery is not guaranteed and even if I mostly "recover," my grasp on cardiac health will be weak at best and require a lot of ongoing maintenance for many years (esoteric med cocktails, perhaps preventative stents in the future or bypass surgery, etc). Good news is that if I somehow make it past the next 5 years I will likely live to 83-ish?
I dunno. Interpreting what the doctors say about risk and probability is weird."
So this is Our Rilly Big Chance to show Troy we care about easing HIS burden for a change.
You don’t have to give big bucks to show it; $10 is a stretch for many of us, but even $10 will make a difference for our dear friend. And when you can donate more, the burden gets lifted that much faster. Unlike donating to video poker, ya just can’t lose here.
Please spread the word, too—even to people who don’t know our guy.
Here are some fun facts you can add to your own message about this Certified Good Egg. He’s been a big part of mutual aid and nonprofit actions like Food Not Bombs, Free Hot Soup, and Meals On Us PDX kinda forever:
- Receiving, processing and storing masses of food donations at his house.
- Prepping, cooking, and packaging masses of meals at his house.
- Serving and recruiting folks to serve meals each week downtown.
- Sourcing, making, packaging, and delivering meals to houseless folks when the pandemic shut down public distribution events. See The Oregonian video (top) featuring Troy and other Free Hot Soup folks in action.
- Meals on Us PDX Chairman of the Board, 2022-24.
He’s also helped many of us in Portland and St. Louis with critical life stuff. And has always shared (v good!) red beans ‘n’ rice and gumbo whenever he makes ‘em, often delivering.
Troy always feeds his community.
Let’s set the table for him now.
- Donate ❤️
- Share the gofundme ❤️
- Tell your peeps at the bar. He’s a legend ❤️