ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, December 18, 1995 TAG: 9512180008
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Good Neighbors Fund
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH STAFF WRITER
Paul (not his real name), 51, tries to live simply.
It isn't as though he has a choice. Of his $426 monthly disability check, $299 goes toward paying his rent. For him, "extras" include laundry soap and shaving cream. His one luxury is the cigarettes that gave him the cancer that cost him part of his jaw, the tip of his tongue and most of his teeth.
He has "cut down some" on his smoking, he said, but like many people, he can't seem to quit completely. He has had 14 operations since his cancer was diagnosed in the mid-eighties, but what cost him his livelihood was the stroke he had a year ago. Paul never finished high school, but he worked hard all of his life, doing "just about anything," including house painting. All that ended after he had the stroke and he was unable to work with his hands.
Paul got along well enough until this summer. Most of his medical bills have been paid by Medicaid and by a grant from the American Cancer Society, but in June, he had extensive dental work that wasn't covered. Trying to pay for it put him behind on his electric bill, and there was no money for food.
He came to the Presbyterian Community Center, where he was given money toward the bill through Roanoke Area Ministries emergency financial assistance program, most of the money for which comes through the Good Neighbors Fund.
While he was there, he also was given a bag of groceries from the agency's food pantry. Center director Pat Dillard said her staff gives out anywhere from 90 to 110 food orders a month to the hungry, most often when their food stamps run out.
Individuals and families are eligible for food every two or three months, but Paul tries not to make a habit of it.
"I try to be independent," he said. "I wish I could work."
Paul has no family and spends most of his time alone. "I can't afford to do anything," he said, and he is no longer physically able to pursue any of his hobbies, which included bowling, hunting, and fishing. Because he is missing part of his tongue, even making conversation is difficult. Simple things such as cooking and shaving are hard too, and he admits that the frustration he feels sometimes makes him difficult to be around.
Most of the time, he tries not to feel too depressed, he said. "If it's going to be done, I've got to do it."
Checks made payable to the Good Neighbors Fund should be mailed to The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 1951, Roanoke, VA 24008.
Names - but not donation amounts - of contributing businesses, individuals or organizations, as well as memorial and honorific designations, will be listed in the newspaper. Those requesting that their names not be used will remain anonymous. If no preference is stated, the donor's name will be listed.
LENGTH: Medium: 54 linesby CNB