Category Archives: Updates on Reed

Update on Anthony and Reed

Anthony and me after he was released from the hospital the first time.

Anthony and me after he was released from his first visit to the hospital this month.

Hello and Happy 2016!

The year has started off with both Anthony and me spending way too much time around doctors! I had a scheduled surgery to repair my labrum, the part that connects your bicep to the rotator cuff, on January 7th. It’s been almost three weeks and I am doing ok. I’m still in some pain, especially when I do my exercises but honestly it’s been way better than I thought. The biggest challenge, besides simply not being able to use my dominant arm, is sleeping. I have to sleep sitting up. I rented a recliner from Rent-A-Center (nightmare experience by the way) which has proved to be worth the pain of dealing with them.

Anthony has had much more critical issues. He has been hospitalized twice in the past two weeks. He suffered a stroke in his left parietal lobe. He was released about five days later and was doing ok until earlier this week when his speech worsened and he demonstrated a few other signs that the stroke was potentially progressing. I called 911 for him and he returned to the hospital where he has since been released. He is doing ok, but needs speech and physical therapy to help aid in his recovery. All of this was going on during Snowzilla to make matters more complicated.

Anyway, I continue to be in touch with Anthony daily and always pass along all the warm words of encouragement I receive from you. This has been a particularly hard month for him financially as well as he hasn’t been able to work most of the month due to hospital visits and recovery. If you would like to help him with this month’s rent, you can make a donation here.

 

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Anthony meets the Pope

Pope Francis visited Washington, D.C. a few weeks ago. It was a historic occasion. I even got a glimpse of the papal icon as he zipped by me in his little Fiat on my way to work. You can barely make him out in the far backside of the car.

Photo: Reed Sandridge

Photo: Reed Sandridge

I thought that was pretty cool. When I told Anthony, he said, “I got to meet the Pope. He’s got soft and warm hands.” Yep, Anthony met the Pope at a luncheon that several homeless and formerly homeless men and women were invited to attend. Check out the photo he snapped from his phone and the article he wrote for Street Sense about the experience.

Photo: Anthony Crawford

Photo: Anthony Crawford

Tagged , , , , ,

Anthony & Me 2015 and News Report Featuring Anthony

Happy New Year! Time seems to go by so fast. I realized it had been an embarrassingly  long time since I have updated the blog – not because Anthony & Me are not still meeting and working on things, but I just have been busy with other projects.

It is hypothermic here today, starting out at a painful 8 degrees this morning. I gave Anthony a call to make sure he was ok. “I ain’t going out in all that today,” he assured me. That’s probably wise. He ventured out yesterday though which wasn’t much better.

2015 is starting off pretty good for Anthony – check out this beautiful news story that was done about him and his journey to get housing. It ran today on the ABC Family Channel. Thanks to reporter John Jessup and videographer Denis Pacuraru of CBN News who did a terrific job with the story!

Looking back, 2014 was a decent year – a great year for Anthony. He celebrated one year of housing which is tremendous. I on the other hand have made some progress on my book, but not near where I had hoped.

As we look forward, Anthony and I are sitting down next Tuesday to talk about what we want to accomplish for 2015. I will post our goals after we meet – but I am pretty sure one of Anthony’s new goals is to try to visit his sister in Seattle this year! Not sure how we’ll do that financially at this point, but we’ll find a way. Oh, and he told me today that he has quit smoking?!!? Wow….that is HUGE! He hasn’t had a cigarette he said since Jan 2nd. “I’ve been chewing lots of nicotine gum – it helps.” I hope he can keep that up.

 

 

 

 

 

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

May Update

It’s been months since I’ve updated Anthony & Me. I’m sorry, I’ve been busy…but Anthony and me still find time to meet up on a regular basis.

Anthony and Elizabeth meeting at Au Bon Pain to discuss housing options.

Anthony and Elizabeth meeting at Au Bon Pain to discuss housing options.

Anthony is doing well, despite a swollen knee that looks more like a watermelon. Helped by a cane, he hobbles downtown to his corner almost every morning though. Last Thursday he took the day off because it hurt too much to walk. I’m working on helping him get to a doctor but frankly I don’t think they will do much for this other than order bed rest.





Today we had a guest at our usual bi-weekly meeting: Elizabeth from Pathways to Housing. She’s the amazing young woman who helped Anthony find his current room. She joined us to help Anthony fill out applications for new housing – he hopes to get into an improved, more independent housing arrangement. We also learned that Elizabeth has taken a new job at Pathways and will no longer be doing outreach in the Golden Triangle but has moved over to Development.

I’ve been making progress, albeit slow, on the book. Anthony never lets me forget that I need to be writing and I truly appreciate it.

We’re about 45 days from the one year anniversary of Anthony finding housing. We’re planning a little celebration on Monday, July 14th – if you are in DC please join us. More details to come on this!

In my last post I shared a recipe from Anthony…I thought I would continue with that tradition and list another one here.

Fish Omelette

Ingredients: fish, butter, green peppers, onions, eggs, milk, cheese

“I take the original fish and debone it. Sometimes I buy fish sticks instead which I debread and use. Then I sauté the fish in butter with green peppers and onions.  I take my eggs and beat’em up, and add just a pinch of milk to make them fluffy. Then I take a slice of cheese, split it in half, and spread it on half of the omelet. And after that is melted, you take the sautéed onions and fish and lay it on top. Then you take the half of the omelette you haven’t used yet and put it on top of everything else.”

I asked Anthony if he ate this like a sandwich. He said, “No. You just eat it as it is. I mean, if you want to eat it as a sandwich that is ok too.”

 

 

 

Tagged , , , , ,

Lunch with Anthony

JRS-2013-1024-001-3.jpg

This was the high temperature last Thursday at Dupont Circle…windchill made it feel even cooler. (photo: Reed Sandridge)

It seems like last week we skipped straight to winter – at least you would have thought that based on last Thursday here in DC. The high just made it over 50 degrees and the wind chill canceled out any relief the occasional sun provided. I’m glad that my friend Anthony has a warm, secure place to sleep indoors this winter. Thank you for your help in helping him achieve his goal.

I met Anthony over lunch. Joining us this time was another friend Steve who lives two blocks from Anthony’s apartment. They’ve met a couple of times and I thought I’d extend an invitation to him to join us.

The three of us huddled around a small table inside The Well Dressed Burrito. A place you’re not Continue reading

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Change in the air

There’s been an autumn chill in the air recently in DC. Normally that brings with it mixed emotions. While I enjoy the fall very much, it serves as a reminder that colder weather is coming and that my friends who sleep on the streets will begin preparing themselves to endure the elements.

Thanks to his new apartment, I will not worry so much about Anthony when it drops below freezing. Sure, he still spends exponentially more time outdoors than I do since he sells the newspaper on the street corner Continue reading

Tagged , , , , , ,

August update



It’s been a while since I’ve updated you on Anthony and me. Anthony is doing great. He’s so happy to have his very own living space. Thank you to all of you who helped him in some way. From the financial donations to the care-packages to this amazing quilt that Joyce from Texas made especially for Anthony! It’s beautiful! He has it spread over his bed and uses it to cover up at night if he gets cool while watching tv.

JRS-2013-0824-001.jpg

Joyce from Texas made this beautiful quilt for Anthony! Photo: Reed Sandridge

Right now we are working on two new things for Anthony. First, we are looking for an adult literacy class for him to join. As a result of dropping out of Continue reading

Tagged , , , , , ,

Week 24 – Walking toward housing


Fungus, bacterial infection and gangrene – all problems that can affect those who do not properly care for their feet. The homeless are particularly vulnerable to these health problems due to a lack of showers, access to proper shoes and socks and the inability to dry feet properly after they become wet.

JRS-2013-0618-002.jpgAs you remember, Anthony was admitted to the hospital last week because his feet became so damaged his socks were soaked with blood. After that episode, I thought I would talk to my podiatrist to see if he could treat Anthony. It would be really convenient for Anthony as his office is about 30 yards from where Anthony sells the Street Sense at 19th and M.

Although the doctor explained he did not take Medicaid, he didn’t hesitate to see Anthony. “Not a problem, I’d be happy to see him for free,” he told me. Wow…what a great guy.

So met up with Anthony this morning to take him to his appointment. As we sat in the waiting room I noticed that Anthony was not wearing socks! “You didn’t wear socks today?” I asked him.

“I ran out. I’m sorry,” he said pulling his pant leg up to reveal his bloated ankles.

Continue reading

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

Roller Coaster Week

Wow…what a week.

JRS-2013-0524-006.jpg

Anthony at a recent medical exam. His vitals were better than his last visit and he has lost more than 20 pounds since the beginning of the year. Photo: Reed Sandridge

So, Anthony gets out of the hospital, we go get him checked out by his physician later that week and then we meet with Elizabeth, the rockstar social outreach worker we have been working with to help get him housing.

Elizabeth had great news. Anthony has passed the basic qualification requirements for housing. And not just any housing. Now I haven’t seen it yet, but it sounds like an amazing opportunity for my friend. It’s a single room – so he doesn’t have to share it with others – which is important to Anthony. Next, it’s in Columbia Heights! For those of you who are not familiar with DC this is a great neighborhood with excellent access to public transportation.

So all this sounds good right? Well, almost.

Continue reading

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hospitalized again



hospitalA few days after my last post about how Anthony’s health seemed to be doing better I called him only to find him admitted at George Washington University Hospital. His blood pressure was dangerously high and he was not feeling well. A customer of his saw him sitting near the spot where he sells the paper and, after seeing that he didn’t look normal, asked if he was feeling alright. He wasn’t…and they called an ambulance.

I learned about this the following day. My office is only a few blocks from the hospital so I walked over on my lunch break to check on him. I was his only visitor he told me. While I was there with him he opened Continue reading

Tagged , , , , , , ,