Category Archives: Updates on Anthony

Jun 17 2013
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Updates on Anthony

One Step Forward One Step Back

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This photo is starting to become an all too familiar image of Anthony.

I’m getting tired of seeing Anthony in a hospital gown. I’m sure I am not as tired as he is though. He’s been in and out of the hospital since we started Anthony & Me. This time he was admitted due to some problems related to his feet, but G.W. Hospital ended up keeping him a few additional days due to his highly elevated blood pressure. Thankfully he was finally released last week.

While he was in the hospital he was supposed to have a meeting with a potential housing provider that we learned about through our superstar outreach worker Elizabeth. They rescheduled for today, but unfortunately the person from the facility either forgot about the meeting or didn’t have it scheduled because she wasn’t there.

Anthony called me from the bus ride home. “The good news is I know exactly where this house is located and it is a great location,” he told me with an enthusiasm in his voice that I hadn’t heard for weeks. But it faded away as quickly as it had returned. “The bad news is the program manager didn’t show up…so now we have to come back later this week or next week” There was a long pause and then I heard him sigh. “It’s like it never ends,” he muttered.

Photo: housing.com/

Photo: housing.com/

I hope to know tomorrow when the meeting is rescheduled.

Tomorrow morning I’m going to meet up with Anthony and take him to my podiatrist. A doctor of mine for several years, he agreed to see Anthony. The doctor doesn’t take Medicaid but he didn’t hesitate to offer to help. What a nice guy. I will let you know how his appointment goes.

 

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Jun 07 2013
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Updates on Anthony, Updates on Reed

Roller Coaster Week

Wow…what a week.

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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 →

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Jun 04 2013
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Updates on Anthony, Updates on Reed

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 →

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May 21 2013
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Updates on Anthony, Updates on Reed

Making progress


I have been so derelict in my blog writing. Sometimes I wonder how I wrote every single day back in 2010 when I did the Year of Giving.

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Anthony meeting with an outreach worker to discuss his dream to get housing.

So there are several items to update you on. First, Anthony is doing well. We got some amazing news recently. He was approved to receive a small amount of government assistance to help him as we prepare to move him into housing. What? Housing for Anthony?!?! Well, while I have been away there have been some people who have been very busy trying to find housing for Anthony. And with this small supplemental income, I think it will put him in a great position to get into some low-income housing. Special thanks and a shout out to Elizabeth for all of her help with Anthony!!!

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Anthony opening a letter from the Social Security Administration informing him that his application for government assistance was accepted. He was so happy!

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I took Anthony to his first hockey game.

 

A couple of other important Continue reading →

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Apr 11 2013
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Biweekly Meetings, Updates on Anthony, Updates on Reed

Week 16 – Clarity



Eye_irisToday things got a little bit clearer…in more than one way!

Not only did I wake up after my Lasik eye surgery that I had yesterday and could see better than 20/20, I also met up with Anthony and an outreach worker named Elizabeth who has been kind enough to provide Anthony with some assistance. Before I get on to Anthony, if you ever consider Lasik eye surgery or have keratoconus (a rare but treatable eye disease) you should definitely consider seeing Dr. Roy Rubinfeld in Chevy Chase, MD. He’s amazing!

So believe it or not, less than 24 hours after my surgery Continue reading →

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Mar 05 2013
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Biweekly Meetings, Updates on Anthony

Week 12 Update



Today was supposed to be my regular meeting with Anthony. I called him this morning to make sure we were still on – but he didn’t pick up. Nonetheless, I headed down to his corner to meet up with him around noon.

The southeast corner of 19th and M was full of people but I didn’t see my friend. My feet paced in the same space that Anthony usually occupies as I scanned the area to see if he possibly had wandered away for a moment. While fumbling for my phone to give him a call I spotted his bright yellow vest across 19th street.

The dark organish decor of the Au Bon Pain is one of Anthony's regular refuges. Photo courtesy of http://regulus-starnotes.blogspot.com/

The dark organish decor of the Au Bon Pain is one of Anthony’s regular refuges. Photo courtesy of http://regulus-starnotes.blogspot.com/

His body propped up against one of those newspaper boxes that take quarters, Anthony looked terrible. “I haven’t slept at all,” he said to me explaining that he had chaperoned a group of college students from Richmond doing an urban plunge – a 48 hour experience developed by the National Coalition for the Homeless where young people get matched with a homeless individual and experience life on the streets. “This group had a couple of girls Continue reading →

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Feb 28 2013
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Updates on Anthony

Mixed Signals



question marksI’ve had a good week working on my book. Taking time off from my main job has helped create space for me to concentrate on writing.

Unfortunately, I don’t feel as confident about the progress that we are making with Anthony. There were some really good signs this week. I got an outreach center which helps homeless secure living wage jobs and get into housing agree to meet with Anthony to see if they could help him. Good right? Well, Anthony didn’t seem t0o excited about it. In fact, when I spoke to him today two hours before his scheduled meeting with the center he said he wasn’t sure if he was going to go. I encouraged him to go and told him that if he decided to bail that he needed to contact them beforehand.

On top of this, he told me that he no Continue reading →

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Feb 26 2013
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Updates on Anthony, Updates on Reed

And the Oscar goes to…

The hardest part about writing, is writing.

This quote was one of the only things I took away from the Oscars on Sunday evening. It was attributed to the late Nora Ephron who died last June after losing her battle with leukemia. Although I can’t find any source attributing this to the great author and director, I did find it attributed to the author Gabe Rotter. Regardless of who said it, I agree!

That being said, maybe the secret is just making time for it. So far today is off to a good start. I’ve taken some time off of my job to focus on writing this week. I got five pages written this morning and have more time planned this afternoon.

I spoke to Anthony yesterday. He has two Continue reading →

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Feb 19 2013
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Biweekly Meetings, Updates on Anthony, Updates on Reed

Week 10 Update


Before I get started today, just a note to let you know that I have added some ad banners on the blog. Yep, there’s one just above where you’re reading now and another one over on the menu to the right. All proceeds go to help support the Anthony&Me project. If you see an ad that interests you, I encourage you to click on it as each click results in micro-revenue for the project. Thank you for your support!!

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Anthony and me at Starbucks this morning

Anthony and I met up this morning for our bi-weekly meeting. First we went over to a doctor’s visit that he had. It seems that his blood pressure is getting more stable although it is still considerably higher than what the doctor would like.

We then headed across the street to the Whole Foods for lunch. We circled the hot and cold food bars surveying the various offerings until we both honed in on our prey. I made Continue reading →

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Feb 15 2013
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Updates on Anthony, Updates on Reed

Reed meets Reid



So yesterday I stopped by to see Anthony at his corner of 19th and M. There was something different about him this time though. He was wearing a sharp looking black three-quarter length wool coat. “A friend was nice enough to buy this for me,” he told me. Handing me the receipt that was still in the pocket he looked me in the eye. “You’re not going to believe how much they paid for it…I’d be happy with something from the thrift shop.” I explained to Anthony that giving is often times just as much about the giver as it is the recipient. He nodded and said how thankful he was for the generous gift.

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Anthony introduced me to the “other Reid” – I don’t meet a lot of people with my name, not even spelled differently. Leave it to Anthony to scout out another Reed!

While we were talking, Anthony said he wanted to introduce me to somebody. You got to understand that talking with Anthony at his corner is not usually a simple bi-directional conversation – nope, not with Anthony. You see that’s Continue reading →

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