March 2011 - Still plugging but I need help

Hi Everyone

I haven't had a chance to blog much in the past month as I was back at MetroWest Hospital in Natick with what has become a chronic infection in my left leg. My body can no longer take oral antibiotics and I must get intravenous treatments. It was aggravated by being on my feet during the day when the doctors have told me to keep the leg elevated when possible. The wonders of getting older.

My wish list for 2011 has not really changed since I wrote it 2 months ago.

If someone reading this can connect me with a lawyer that can help me deal with the red tape of getting a Massachusetts ID card I would be most grateful. That is the single biggest headache I have and it is all because of botched paperwork at the Somerville Court going back to 2004. The Court says it is a registry of Motor Vehicles issue, the Registry says it is a court issue.

Bottom line the Commonwealth wants $100 which I simply don't have to spare as my limited fixed income can not absorb that hit right now. I also want to set up some kind of payment system with the City of Cambridge so I can get my drivers license back. While I do have a valid out of state license, I can not drive in Massachusetts until it is paid.

I have the paperwork to back this up....

My short term housing problems have been solved as I was accepted into an extended stay location in Cambridge but I am still forced to be on the streets from 8 AM until 7 PM which my doctors tell me will only cause the leg to flare up again.

My contact information is on the sidebar of the blog - and If anyone wants to help me out in my electronic paper cup begging for change, I would be very grateful.



But what i need most is an advocate that can help me with the red tape that our beloved Commonwealth is known for.

GO BRUINS  GO RED SOX

Boston 'Health Care for the Homeless' saves lives

Somebody sent me this article today from wickedlocal.com

Dover resident helps the homeless, one foot at a time

of note

On a typical afternoon, Daggett said she sees between five and 10 men (though on occasion a woman will come in).

“We give them a warm foot bath to soak their tired and sore feet,” said Daggett. “These, of course, are homeless men who are out all day and walking no matter the weather. We examine their feet for any problems, and ask them if they are having any issues they would like to talk about. We give them foot cream, treat any conditions if needed, and sometimes sending them to the hospital with potentially serious situations.”

The more serious problems such as “trench foot” (also called “immersion foot”) are sent to the hospital.

Trench foot occurs when the feet are wet for long periods of time. It can be quite painful, but it can be prevented and treated, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/trenchfoot.asp)

I have medical insurance so I have never had to use this program, but I have met others that have and I can assure you that these people save lives.

The mission statement for the program says it all

For 25 years our simple mission has remained the same: to provide or assure access to the highest quality health care for all homeless men, women and children in the greater Boston area. We believe it has been Medicine that Matters.

Vulnerable Patients are kept alive with dignified care.

Shelters like Pine Street Inn and hopeFound can attend to their missions while BHCHP manages and staffs the shelter clinics across the city, consolidating services and saving dollars.

Boston's Hospitals have BHCHP as an alternative to emergency rooms and as a safe discharge place for vulnerable patients.

I just wanted to pass this along.

1/24 - Surviving the cold......

It is Monday afternoon and finally getting some computer time at the library.

I was lucky enough on both Saturday and Sunday to get a 'one-night' emergency bed in Cambridge and we will see what tonight brings. I still can't re-apply for another 2 week bed until Thursday and even then there is no guarantee of getting one right away as there seems to be ten applicants for every available slot.

The 2 week bed is important not only for the piece of mind of not having to worry, but more importantly having a place to put belongings. Lugging around a suitcase all day (especially in this weather) is a chore and it makes it that much harder to set up appointments as to be honest there is a stigma attached to walking around with bags all day. Since storage lockers no longer exist it just adds to the 'fun and games'.

Logistics of these offices are almost comical.
Cambridge Housing is in Central Square at Mass and Prospect so that is easy, and some of the other housing advocate agencies are only a block or two away. No problems there.

Social Security has moved to Fresh Pond leaving their long time home in Davis Square. It can be reached by the 74 or 78 buses, and I have found the mobile website mbtainfo.com to be a life saver in catching a return bus in the winter. It is very accurate.

For services provided by the Commonwealth, one has to go to the Davis Square office, which is no longer in Somerville, it is in Revere. It is on the Blue Line and the office is at the Revere Beach Station but it is a hike.

One laughable part is that the Commonwealth gives the homeless 'food stamps' (about $40 a week) but what good are stamps if you have no place to prepare the meal? (I have $265 on my card right now - but)

California DOES allow for a restaurant to accept food stamps which would be a huge help.

Today I really didn't get much done as it was simply too cold.

Cambridge does offer services and the staff is wonderful but they are just overwhelmed...

Here is a link of what is offered by the City of Cambridge..

They also publish this

 Homeless Resource Guide (PDF)





The one thing that has kept me going is just meeting others my age who have also fallen through the cracks. Men and women who have worked all their lives but for whatever reason lost the place they called home.

Anyhow my time at the library is up..... thanks for reading and STAY WARM!!!!!

1/22 - It's getting cold out there

I was not lucky enought to get a bed last night at 9:30 which meant back to Logan Airport. Hopefully tonight I will be luckier.

Of course the fact that it is very cold in Boston tonight and they saying it will drop under 10 overnight would indicate that anybody who has a bed secured will not be taking a night out. The shelter in Harvard Sq at 9:30 PM gives out the beds to people calling in at 1 888 656 3414 and it is simply luck.

The worst part for me is the not knowing until 9:30 if I will be OK for the night. I can't even apply for a 14 day bed until late next week as I am on my 7 days out.

The system is just clogged right now with too many people and too few beds.

I am open to any options at this point.

Wish me luck for tonight.

FRIDAY 1/21/11 - I could almost laugh - it wasn't true

Came across these instructions on the internet today

This instructable is designed to tell you how to stay warm, in varying degrees of cold.

This article assumes you do not have a house or apartment.




So, crap, guess what. You're homeless.


Things didn't work out for now, and now, well, ...now what?


Where do we go from here?


First things first.


What does a human need? (not Want, but Need.)


Quickly.....unfortunately, much of your Western civilization programming will be working against you in this process. We've been taught to gratify many of our less important whims.

Fundamentally, a Need is something required for pragmatic survival.
A Want is something that would be nice. Your priorities may vary, but what a human needs to survive
is pretty simple. Air, Water, Food, Shelter. Sometimes you may additionally need medicine,which can occasionally be improvised.more about that later.

If it's cold, you have to figure out the way to stay warm. If you're in a place where it gets much below the 40s Fahrenheit. About 4.4 Celsius), you'll need to do it fairly quickly. Before dark.


When the sun goes down the temperature drops quickly, and that's bad news for you.


Even if you're a husky fella,
your extremities will chill and cramp easier, and if you go to sleep, if you wake up, you may wake up with hypothermia . Not fun.


There's also frostbite. . Oh, buddy.


If you're caught homeless in the cold, don't panic. This is survivable, and a chance to prove you're resourceful enough to do it well enough to come out healthy.


It's 9 PM on a Friday night in Boston and the temperature is dropping. 


With luck I will win a bed at 9:30 in Harvard Sq - if not back to Logan Airport....


I can't take much more of this. By that I mean the unknown from day to day if I have a place to rest my head each night. 


Wish me luck...

How TD Garden in Boston helps feed the homeless

Round of applause to Delaware North the owner of TD Garden.

Arena leftovers assigned a mission

After TD Garden events, unsold food is donated

Happy New Year - 2011

I haven't been able to post since Christmas as I was in Norwood Hospital for a week with an infection in my left leg ( it is a chronic problem )

So it is 8 PM and I am waiting until 9:30 to find out where I sleep tonight....at a shelter in Cambridge or the Logan hotel....

Those of you who wander through Harvard Sq take a walk through the Garage any night at 9 PM and see just how many are waiting, praying they will get a bed. Since the shelter will not admit anyone who is not clean and sober EVERYBODY there is in the same boat.

I am totally worn out....

Every morning I apply for the 2 week lottery and on average 10-15 are applying for ONE bed. It is a BRUTAL lifestyle.

This is how the shelter works

The age range is from late teens to 70.....

As to my situation which I have blogged previously about...nothing has changed

I need help

Thanks for reading

Boston CLAIMS homeless numbers are down in 2010

3 days before Christmas

I look at amazement at the Boston Metro today (December 22) with a front page story saying the number of homeless living on the streets is down.

What the census conducted on December 6th found was

» 2%: Decrease in the number of individuals using Boston emergency shelters over the past year.
» 725: Number of chronically homeless people in Boston in fiscal year 2010, down from 962 in fiscal year 2005.
» 2,747: The number of homeless individuals in Boston, down from 3,944 five years ago.
» 26%: Boston’s street count reportedly found its lowest number of homeless people in 13 years, with the amount of homeless people filling ER beds and hospital beds down by about 26 percent.

Could have fooled me. Every shelter in the city is full and workers have said to me they have never seen it so bad. More likely what has happened is more have gone to Cambridge or Logan at night.

Update on my situation - I spent Sunday night at Logan but was able to secure an emergency bed in Cambridge the last two nights. Still every night until at least Sunday when I can re-apply for a 14 night bed is filled with uncertainty. I am hoping I can put together $34.99 so I can spend at least Christmas Eve at a Boston hostel.

I would like to thank Rachel who kindly sent me $25 2 days ago as it helps more than you know.

If anyone else is so inclined they can do so at the link below.



Mentally I am better than I was over the weekend but still down.

2011 will be better - it just has to be.

Happy Holidays!!!!!

2 stories that will make you smile

Here are a couple of nice stories for the Holiday Season.

In Boston, a homeless vet finds a wallet and even though he is broke himself turned the wallet into the Boston Police who found the owner.

Down in Tampa Bay, the manager of the Tampa Bay Rays goes the extra mile to help the homeless.

Happy Holidays

Blog has new address

Hi all

It was suggested to me that I might be able to generate a little income if I moved the blog from Word Press to Blogger.

Word Press does not allow advertising but Blogger does.....

Any of you reading who use Amazon.com I would appreciate if you would go to their site via ads from my blog because then if you purchase anything, Amazon send me a small commission.

The Google ads I am sure everybody is familiar with.

I believe I was able to transfer the blog completely.

Thanks for reading.

Stuck in limbo

I haven't been able to blog the past few weeks as I lost my phone and only today got the insurance replacement in the mail.

I am frankly a mess.

I have not been able to find a secure place to live and have spent almost every night for the past month at Terminal E at Logan Airport. I am not alone.

I have somehow gotten used to sleeping upright and nobody bothers me and I feel safe. The State Police know we are there but as long as we behave and do not bother the passengers they let us be.

I spend my days looking and looking for something, anything. The Hostel in the Back Bay is almost always full and the Prescott Hotel in Everett just closed overnight which leaves even less options.

Frankly I am scared.

My world has fallen apart.... I need help

I am learning the hard way just how cruel life can become as one gets older.

I turned 60 earlier this year and honestly I can't believe I am now that old. The last 10 years have not been great to me as I have battled some health problems and now live on a small (around $800 a month) disability payment. 800 dollars doesn;t go very far in Boston but I was getting by but the last few weeks have been a nightmare.

I started having health problems around 8 years ago and was forced to go onto disability - NOT because I was looking at 'free' money - but because I needed the health insurance that came with it. I really had no choice but to go in that direction. I was lucky enough to find a small studio apartment in a private house and the landlord was taking only 30% of my check. I was able to get buy but I needed to be watchful of my spending as EVERY penny counted. Life wasn't great but I was surviving. Then everything fell apart in February of this year.

I need help....

I had been living in a nice home in Brookline. The owner was someone I had met at a local Starbucks and he had a small apartment on the second floor and he only was charging me 30% of my check. It was small but nice.

Suddenly he died of a heart attack on February 28th and his daughter decided she was going to sell the house and I had to vacate which finally happened on July 1st.

Since then I have been staying with a friend or for a few nights at a shelter in Jamiaca Plain at the Shattuck Hospital. That is not a nice place because of the drinkers and drug users. i will also admit I have slept outside a few nights. It isn't fun at my age. I have been searching and seaching for a place but there is little out there I can afford right now. I have my name on a zillion lists and I hope and pray. However a couple a weeks ago disaster happened.

I had done some work for someone I had met at a Starbucks and he paid me $150 by check.

 IT BOUNCED and the person seems to have left the area.

But because the check bounced I was suddenly overdrawn with Bank of America and simple purchases like a coffee were suddenly being hit with a $35 fee on each transaction. I was unaware of this as the card kept being approved until suddenly I was $667 overdrawn. Bank of America refused to rebate any of the fees and when my August check arrived on the 3rd of the month I was left with $118 to last the month. None of my friends can help as they are just getting by and I have no family.

Meanwhile I am searching for ANY kind of housing and my best option is perhaps a sober house in Framingham come September or October. I have to admit I am overwhelmed at this point.

I will be honest my life has been a struggle. 

I will be upfront - I suffer from depression and PTSD. The main source of my problems stems from being abused by a Catholic priest back in the mid 60's after the sudden death of my father. He took a special interest in me.

 It was something that I suppressed for decades and it was not until a decade ago I finally had to come to grips with it. I have yet to receive a settlement as this happened in the state of Rhode Island where I attended a Catholic prep school and honestly I doubt I will ever see much from the Diocese of Providence as unlike Boston to the north, there IS no money in Rhode Island. I would like them to say "we are sorry" but they seem incapable of doing that.

I became a loner in my 20's and while not as bad as Travis Bickle I did become a cab driver and drove for Boston Cab in the Fenway for many years. No regrets but I just finally burnt out from the job and when Boston Coach took away all the downtown work I moved on.

I have been sober now for over 9 years and i would NEVER want to go back there. We are taught in 12-Step that everything happens for a reason but I can't take anymore.

I am on a fixed income and it is only $800 a month. My taxi driving days came back to haunt me as I paid little in taxes and thus my government check is small.

A couple of years ago when i went to renew my drivers license I found out I owed the $1,440 in unpaid parking tickets dating back to 1988-9. These were all taxi related as I didn't own a car and I was told the cab owner had PAID them but he did not as I as the driver was responsible. I can not get my licencse back until they are paid, and there is simply no way I can do it. It is my own fault.

So..somebody suggested I just blog about it and ask for help. I have an old PayPal account that I used on Ebay and another friend suggested I put that PayPal link on the blog if somebody out there wanted to help me a little.



I know this is a 21st Century Way of panhandling which NEVER in a million years did I ever expect to do but I am at wits end. I would work if I could but who is going to hire a 60 year old with bad legs.

One last thing. An old friend from AA wants me to relocate to the south and live with her. She is just getting by as well but she moved back as she simply couldn't afford Boston anymore. leaving Boston is now my goal but somehow I have to survive August with no money.

I am embarrased to be doing this but I am at the end of my rope. I am not a thief though I can now understand why a man could be driven to that.

If anybody has doubts they can e-mail me and i would be happy to meet and show my bank statements. I just can't believe Bank of America could do that to me and then refuse to rebate any of the fees. I have been with them since it was BayBank. It is just very frustrating.

Thank You for reading.