Losing My Home and My Business

My name is Richard S. Rattanni.  I was a small business owner in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania until recently.  I was involved with Boyscouts for 12 years and I am an avid outdoorsman.  I'll be 59 years old this fall.

My problems started last year.  I have a small computer repair business and I was in the hospital for over three weeks off and on.  I also have a Mother that was very ill last year that required alot of attention.  I’m getting old myself.  I missed weeks of work helping her.  I spent many days and nights helping my Mom by taking her to doctors and running her items she needed while she was in the hospital and nursing home.  I have a brother and a sister.  My brother is physically and mentally handicapped and lives in a nursing home full time. I took care of him for close to six weeks after my Dad died with no help from my Sister.  My sister lives in New York City so she couldn’t help me take care of either my Dad, my brother or my mother.   All the while I was trying to do the right thing and take care of my Moms needs and also look after my brother while trying to run a business. 

 

I rent off of my sister who lives in New York City and she is throwing me out of my Home because I am several months back on my rent.  The landlord for my business does not care about my problems even though I paid my rent faithfully for over twenty years.  He shutoff my electric and although he isn’t technically allowed to do that he does what he wants. The building where my business is located has not had running water in years and I never realized how important it was to have a working toilet till I had several medical problems last year where I really needed access to a bathroom while I was working.  I had to stay home many days just so I had access to a bathroom.  The heater at my business quit working so I needed to heat the place this past winter with propane heaters and I didn’t realize it until it was too late that propane heaters will make you sick.  Sometime last fall my business got flooded because the landlord refused to fix a leak in an apartment above my business and I lost thousands of dollars of merchandise.   I’m just weeks away from being homeless.  When my business was up and running I would always help the less fortunate by faxing things for people, receiving faxes for people, making copies and helping people with resumes and printing things and even helping with computer problems at no cost.  I always donated money to people who needed help. While my business was thriving I would routinely donate money to charitable organizations.  My shop was sort of like a community center.  I was in business for over twenty years at the same location.

 

My main thing here is to come up with enough money to pay my sister so I don’t wind up in the street.  I also need to rent a place to do business because although I am trying to find a job, it’s really true that no-one wants to hire an old man in this field, they are looking for someone quite a bit younger.  I have tried in the past to help everyone that needed it and would love to continue helping others however it is me that needs help this time.

 

I will appreciate any and all donations.  I don’t even have enough money to buy my medications that I so desperately need for my heart problems.  My health is failing and the stress of facing being homeless is making it worse.