Caring for Keith
Last year, one of our tenants was diagnosed with stage IV salivary gland cancer. Keith had been struggling with mouth pain for a few months when Lori, our social worker, got him an appointment at Amaus Dental Services. They provide professional dental services free of charge thanks to volunteers.
Amaus referred Keith to an oral surgeon who recommended he go to Upstate Cancer Center. They did a biopsy, diagnosed Keith, and ultimately set up his treatment plan:
Radiation every day for 30 days, Monday-Friday (15 minute treatment)
Chemotherapy once a week for six weeks (each appointment lasting 6-7 hours)
As you might imagine, that’s a lot of appointments. For an aging gentleman without family support or his own transportation – not to mention the complexities of navigating online scheduling–this would have been a herculean feat to manage.
But, Keith wasn’t left to fend for himself.
Lori served as an advocate for Keith, handling scheduling and attending many of his appointments to assist with understanding important procedures and follow-up care. Still, the number of appointments was daunting and transportation was an issue.
At first, we weren’t sure how we’d get Keith to the center on a daily basis. We have limited staff. Uber is too expensive. We considered putting out an ask for volunteers, but knew that would be difficult to coordinate and potentially not reliable with shifting schedules.
But, an opportunity presented itself.
Joe moved into one of our units last fall. Despite being employed, he struggled to keep up with his rent payments. Inspiration struck. Joe is kind, dependable, and has a vehicle. What if he helped with rides a few times each week in exchange for working off the rent he wasn’t able to pay?
Between Lori and Joe, they were able to create a schedule to get Keith to all of his appointments and back home again. And the cherry on top? Joe was able to work off his debt while supporting our team and our community. That’s a triple decker win in our book.
We chose to share this story because it illustrates the kind of creative problem solving (and flexibility) that is often required to keep our tenants housed permanently–and what sets us apart from other landlords. Living in other affordable housing, Keith likely never would have made it to a doctor and Joe certainly would have faced eviction. But when A Tiny Home for Good is the organization providing housing, we recognize that to tip the scales in our tenants’ favor, to keep them housed for the long run, we must be there to work through the challenges together.