Any Port in a Storm.

Hello people,

My name is Chris Kehoe, and I need your help. I’m trying to save a man’s life.

This man’s story is as disturbing as it is complex. It’s too long a story to tell, so I’m giving you the cliff notes version.

The man’s name is Dave Ziko. He’s 68 years old, and he is homeless and severely disabled from a traumatic brain injury he suffered when he was 14. His entire adult life has been a struggle. His injuries have affected his sense of balance and coordination, his motor skills, his speech, and some of his cognitive abilities. He uses a wheelchair as a walker because he can’t maintain his balance when he tries to walk, and he’s prone to falling.

When I found him, he was sheltering in a filthy abandoned trailer with no heat and no running water. And he was suffering. He was very sick with an upper respiratory infection that eventually developed into pneumonia. He was cold, hungry, and in tremendous pain and needed to see a doctor right away. But he refused to go because he was afraid they would take his little companion dog (Ben) away from him. I managed to convince Dave to let me take him to the emergency room and that I would stay with him and hold onto Ben and keep him safe.

After spending the entire day in the emergency room, he was given some antibiotics and released. I couldn’t take him back to that disgusting trailer; it was toxic and unsafe. So I got him a room at a hotel nearby that is used for emergency accommodations through the American Red Cross. However, the Red Cross does not consider Dave’s circumstances to be an “emergency,” so they wouldn’t help cover the expenses for Dave’s room. I paid for the first 3 nights, but that was all I could afford to do. So currently, his expenses are being paid for with his Social Security and disability payments through a conservator, but that’s only $900 a month, and there are only enough funds on hand to cover about 2 weeks at the hotel. After that, his account will be empty, and Dave will be forced back out onto the street. This is unacceptable.

He needs to stay where he is while his conservator’s office works with the state to locate an assisted living facility for Dave (and Ben) so that he can receive the proper care that he needs and deserves. However, finding that place is challenging because of his particular needs, the lack of availability, and because he has a dog. It could be weeks or months before something becomes available. As I mentioned, if he runs out of funds before the state finds a place for him, he’ll be forced back out on the street. And if that were to happen, it would immediately become a matter of life and death for him. He would not survive in this bitter cold with nowhere to go. He’s much too vulnerable. He needs to be in a safe place where caring people can look after him.

Where Dave is right now is the safest place for him to be until the state comes through for him with a place to live while he continues to recuperate from his illness.

And that’s what I’m trying to do. I'm trying to help him get from where he is to where he needs to be.

I'm trying to bridge that gap.

Your donations will have an immediate impact and help ensure he gets that opportunity.

All donations will be deposited into a trust account for Dave and managed by a legal conservator. This will ensure that every penny will be accounted for and go directly toward Dave's expenses during this critical time.

Please help me, so that I can help him.

Dave is a sweet, kind, lovely, gentle man.

He deserves our help.

And if you can’t donate, please like, comment, and share. The more people who see this, the better his chance of survival.

Thank you.