Our dear donors know the outlines of Michael’s difficult story. We have been working for over a year to get him out of a substandard living situation-- spotty and sometimes zero heat, no working refrigerator (he uses a bucket and ice), and no electricity in the front of the apartment. He is the last tenant in this excuse for a building. Sadly, a few months ago he lost Ollie, one of his beloved cats; the cats also suffer from this horrible situation. PLUS: Now that the government is shut down, he will receive no SNAP benefits this month. What an ugly country.

There is, however, good news!: We are making good contacts in the Human Resources Admin world where they are beginning to understand our specific, one-off problem which is: Because Michael is not in a shelter, we have no access to a “housing specialist.” We made two great contacts, one at Legal Aid and another at the Mayor’s office. And soon Michael will FINALLY be receiving Social Security checks. He has an important phone appointment Nov. 10 that we are both living for. This morning, however, he only had $17 to his name.

Please help us get over this hump.