PLEASE MEET JEANIE:
Jeanie spoke frantically from her car. My attempts to calm her only increased her frustration. Maybe it was my hokey optimism. Like telling her she matters. She gave me the occasional stink-eye, indicating that I didn’t get it. Then she ripped loose her head bandanna mid-sentence. Her sudden wide eyes popped from her bald head and messed up my trip. Fat tears followed. “This cancer never goes away, right? You can take a lot from a woman. But don’t take her hair. A woman’s hair is who she is…”
Remember Jeanie? Rex introduced her here a year ago. She had recently lost her mother. Mourning her loss while adjusting to homelessness, she lived in a U-Haul where she was mugged and beaten by thugs. Her belongings were dumped on the street and the vehicle re-possessed.
This community responded. Jeanie was grateful. But we recently discovered Jeanie again, living in her car. Now Jeanie is sick with ovarian cancer. She has been through chemotherapy and receives daily radiation treatments. We found shelter for Jeanie in a tiny house. But she drives long distances daily in a vehicle with a failing transmission to receive her treatments.
Though sick, Jeanie speaks with animation and purpose. Her story is a carnival ride of anxiety and joy. Rapid accelerations. Sadness juxtaposed against self-deprecation and dry humor. Spiritual moments, abruptly followed by shocking revelations and salty language. Your emotions can’t respond fast enough to transition correctly before the story takes another tight turn. Tears and laughter flow simultaneously as her busy face and big eyes span a spectrum of emotions. A few of her anecdotes cannot be repeated in this family forum, but left my guts hurting from laughter. Jeanie is a kick in the ass.
She won’t talk your ear off. Jeanie lets you off the ride easy each time with a whisper, “I love you Sweetie.” And we’re left with plenty to think about.
Outside a sick woman with a tragic story wears a bandanna and a shirt that says Only God can Judge. Inside, there’s Jeanie. She’s lonely these days. Needing help but employing every tool in her power to help herself. A woman who should matter. Though the world may have forgotten somehow.
Below is a list of Jeanie’s needs. In addition, we’d like to raise $1500 for gas cards for Jeanie. If you can help, click here: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=YW973AHMPB5EC
Items may be shipped to: Facing Homelessness c/o Jeanie 4001 9th Ave NE. Funds are used by Facing Homelessness to procure this ask. No funds will go directly to Jeannie and no funds go to Facing Homelessness. If there are funds remaining, they will go to another person who is in need.
Stand Up Walker
Electric Blanket- full size
Boulder Creek Fleece Winter Coat size 5X, Navy Blue or Black
Explorer Plush Fleece Pants, 2 pair, size 5X
Long Sleeve Thermal Long Johns
Cargo Pants- Knock Around Kind size 5X
Sneakers- Lace Up Downforce, size 10 womens
Copper Fit Energy Compression Socks, black, 2 pair
Kent Neighborhood| Damian
A QUIET THOUGHT - If you’re moved by the goodness of this community, please visit http://www.facinghomelessness.org/ and click on the ‘donate’ button and consider a “monthly recurring” donation of just $5 in support of the work. Thank you.
#Kindness #FacingHomelessness #JustSayHello
brightLIGHT
PLEASE MEET SCOTTY:
It is with such sadness I am writing to tell you that our very dear friend Scotty Ferguson has passed away. There is so much to this beautiful man I honestly don't know where to begin. I first met him at his home, which at the time was a covered bench along the ship canal in Fremont. It was the winter of 2011. His friend Dinkus was living there too.
Both Scotty and Dinkus had an undeniable twinkle in their eye, it drew them together, feeding off each other's charisma. They were so alive, now they are both gone. Dinkus passed in early 2017 which hit Scotty hard. Everyone that frequented the bench could see they were a team. Scotty played the guitar and Dinkus sang off-key, Dinkus told jokes and Scotty gave that infectious laugh. And through it all, they drank, and drank.
Scotty's charm was second only to his big heart. He was a good man that would do anything for you. I felt this constantly in my friendship with him. I know the people at the University Methodist Church felt this too, he volunteered lots. Gail Winberg from the church, along with many others, is feeling the painful loss of his friendship.
Scotty's life was in a downward spiral during that time living on the bench. It was horrible to witness his daily struggle. All of that changed when he met Anne. She pulled him out of it with her goodness and love. Often when I was in the office, working early, I would see Anne's car pull up, just when it was getting light, and she'd walk down those steps to visit with Scotty.
Eventually she broke through. He quit drinking and they moved in together. It was beautiful. They were there for each other, both learning and growing. In the end, the obstacles were too much and they separated but their love kept them close, texting daily till the end. It was Anne that told me Scotty had passed on February 5th of cancer. Please send your LOVE to her, I know she is hurting deeply with this loss.
Scotty loved to fish. Often he and Dinkus would fish along the canal. During Dinkus' last year outside he was in a wheelchair and somebody had thrown it into the canal, coming to rest about 10' out and 5' down. You could see it when the water was still. Scotty decided to fish for it. It was a big deal, he spent hours trying to catch it and finally did, slowly pulling it to the surface and onto land. There was a celebration like you'd never seen. Scotty talked about the big one he caught, over and over, asking if we'd heard the story yet. Still makes me smile so much.
We loveLOVE you Scotty. At 60 years old, with so much life in you, you were much too young to leave us. Thank you for your beautiful friendship, for the LOVE of life you shared so very easily with everyone.
Fremont Neighborhood | Rex
A QUIET THOUGHT - If you're moved by the goodness of this community, please visit http://www.facinghomelessness.org/ and click on the 'donate' button and consider a "monthly recurring" donation of just $5 in support of the work. THANK YOU!
#JustSayHello #Kindness #FacingHomelessness
instantDISASSEMBLY
PLEASE MEET JT:
With encampment sweeps up this year I did some research to understand why. I searched city websites and policy pages. Not much on the effectiveness of sweeps. In fact, the city makes scant reference to its encampment “removals”. A statement by the mayor clarifies: “We must be accountable to Seattle taxpayers about the investments we are making, what is working, and where we need to innovate.”
Meanwhile, across the tracks, tangled in the trees and nestled in the nooks. Between the bushes, beneath the bridges, the downtrodden and displaced simply seek peace and dignity. Tolerating winter, rejection, exposure and sweeps over bureaucracy, bed bugs and bullies at the crowded shelters. There’s social wreckage and souls. Gregory, Bear, Leah, Jamie, Cheryl, Blandy, Sean, Chris, Mike, Van, and JT. In a nearby clearing a disturbed woman disrobes in the cold. Clutching soap and a rag.
There’s a neatly organized collection of bike frames and parts. We’d not seen JT since the Georgetown sweeps last winter. He crawled from his tent on painful knees. He looked up. He looked older. “The DOT was here yesterday. But we haven’t been tagged yet.” His eyes weary. His smile gentle.” JT builds bikes. “I give them to people who need them. I’ve never sold one.” There’s a partially assembled frame clamped to a work stand. “This one here’s coming along.” He points to another. “This one’s my baby. It took months to assemble.”
JT was a diesel mechanic for 30 years. A gentle man who speaks Cummins and Massey Fergusson. Compression ratios and compassion. Happily married to his wife whom he loved, they raised 3 sons in a home they owned. He was a scout leader for many years. His oldest son was an Eagle Scout. “The boys loved fishing, camping, and dirt bikes. We fished and camped everywhere. Lakes, streams, the ocean.”
JT moves slowly now. It’s been two years since his second struggle with prostate cancer. Surviving chemo and radiation treatments, it was his third brush with death. “I’m ok 11 months of the year.” He looks away sadly, his voice cracks. “But December is hard for me. I don’t like Christmas anymore. I don’t understand why He took them and not me.” On Christmas day 2012 JT’s family was struck by a drunk driver killing his wife of 25 years and twin 15 year old boys.
Back at the clearing the woman finishes her sponge bath and dresses. A passing hungry man asks for food. Near the tracks a white DOT pickup arrives. A man with a clipboard gets out.
Gerogetown neighborhood | Damian
A QUIET THOUGHT - If you're moved by the goodness of this community, please visit http://www.facinghomelessness.org/ and click on the 'donate' button and consider a "monthly recurring" donation of just $5 in support of the work. THANK YOU!
#Kindness #JustSayHello #FacingHomelessness