Timothy Walker

My name is Timothy Walker. I’m from Cincinnati and now living in Louisville, Kentucky. I went to prison for 4 years and decided to make a change. In order to make that change, I knew I had to relocate, so I got out and came to Louisville to a transitional house that ended up putting me out because I couldn’t afford $600 rent at the time. I had just come home; how did they expect that? Anyway, I ended up homeless, literally homeless—not hopping from couch to couch homeless. I’m talking streetwalker homeless: no sleep, barely eating, cold, missing dialysis because no ride, no bus fare. In and out of the hospital for blood clots in my arm, high blood pressure, and at times just making up stuff just to be out of the cold for a few hours in the emergency room. Anyway, I ended up finding a place to live and found a place that paid for me to move in. I thought I had it from there. I was working and getting my disability; I was straight, so I thought. Until I looked up and wasn’t getting many hours at work due to the hospital visits. Then SSI cut my check because I was working. After speaking with my manager at work, it was decided that she couldn’t offer me hours at the time due to the holidays and things being slow, and also I’d missed so much work. So I had to give up my job to keep my disability, which put me in this situation. Now I only receive disability. My rent is $900, my disability is $900—get it? I got in this situation in particular because the Salvation Army said they would pay my rent this month and backed out and only offered to pay $300, which is cool, but my rent office won’t take it unless I have the full amount. So they sent the $300 back to the Salvation Army, is what the rent office told me today. So I took last month’s check and paid other bills and sent kids money for Christmas, etc. Now I’m in this situation, about to be homeless again. I just need some help. I act like everything is okay; it’s not. I’m struggling bad right now. If anybody has a heart, let it show right now, please.