{"id":21856,"date":"2023-08-18T09:00:37","date_gmt":"2023-08-18T13:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=21856"},"modified":"2023-11-13T15:41:38","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T20:41:38","slug":"disabled-homeless-man-walks-to-raise-money-for-wifes-cancer-treatment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/disabled-homeless-man-walks-to-raise-money-for-wifes-cancer-treatment\/","title":{"rendered":"Disabled Homeless Man Walks to Raise Money for Wife\u2019s Cancer Treatment"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Another Truly Dystopian Story Being Spun as a Heartwarming Tale<\/span><\/h2>\n

In the corporate hellscape of late-stage capitalism we currently live in, we\u2019ve become numb to a lot of the human suffering that exists for the sake of bigger profits for billionaires. But a special strain of this is the \u201cheartwarming stories\u201d about truly horrific things.<\/span><\/p>\n

You know the type. They usually have titles like \u201cKid Starts Lemonade Stand to Pay For Mom\u2019s Surgery\u201d or \u201cWoman Sells Kidneys To Make Rent.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ok, I made that second one up, but it\u2019s really not far off. We\u2019re meant to see these as inspiring stories of ordinary people rising above the odds and sacrificing themselves for someone else\u2019s gain. But what they really expose is what a poor standard of care our government gets away with providing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think it\u2019s controversial to say that elementary schoolers shouldn\u2019t be #hustling to try and make sure their mother doesn\u2019t die. And you shouldn\u2019t have to sacrifice an arm and a leg, or any other body parts, just to ensure your family has a safe, stable, and secure place to sleep at night. But these are the harsh realities that too many people face daily.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When it comes to housing, healthcare, and all the other necessities of life in this country, nothing is guaranteed, and the safety nets are rotten.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Plan of Desperation<\/span><\/h3>\n

All this preamble brings us to the subject of today\u2019s heart-wrenching story, Jason Means. Means is a 61-year-old homeless man with arthritis so bad it hurts to tie his shoes. His wife, Laurie Tolen, helps him with that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before the pandemic, these two were small business owners local to the Bay Area. They sold food items like donuts, coffee, or snow cones from a small trailer. But Covid hit the business hard and quickly led to\u00a0<\/span>eviction<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and homelessness. That\u2019s when Laurie was diagnosed with cancer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A host of bureaucratic issues have prevented the pair from accessing aid. So Jason devised an idea to raise funds to pay for Laurie\u2019s treatments and an RV to give her a more stable place to recover. He decided to walk from Martinez, California, into the state capitol of Sacramento, taking donations and raising awareness along the way. He set off on July 1.<\/span><\/p>\n

Martinez to Sacramento<\/span><\/h3>\n

The journey of 100 miles is an ambitious feat for a man who relies on a walker and suffers from severe arthritis. Add in the summer heat, and it could even prove deadly.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Jason did it. Upon his arrival in Sacramento on July 25 after the grueling walk, he hoped to speak with Governor Gavin Newsom about the situation he and his wife are in and about the larger issues of disabled and elderly homeless people in the state.<\/span><\/p>\n

When Jason arrived, Governor Newsom was not available for a meeting. Instead, he met with Assembly Fellow Aldo Garcia, who praised his efforts and promised another meeting soon with Assembly Member Lori Wilson.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jason\u2019s Second Walk for Laurie<\/span><\/h3>\n

Jason and Laurie haven\u2019t been satisfied with the limited response they got from the Governor\u2019s office. According to them, many promises were made, but they\u2019ve yet to see any results or even much movement. Their follow-up calls and emails to Garcia have gone unanswered.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In light of this indifferent response, Jason has decided to perform a second, even longer walk for Laurie. He set out at 8 am August 14, walking from San Francisco to Sacramento. He intends to circle the State Capitol until \u201csomeone who is someone\u201d is available to meet with him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Updates are available on the couple\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>GoFundMe page<\/span><\/a>, where they\u2019re still a long way off from meeting their goal.<\/span><\/p>\n

There Are So Many More Jasons and Lauries Out There<\/span><\/h3>\n

Jason\u2019s Walk for Laurie isn\u2019t an inspiring story of overcoming obstacles as much as it is a wake-up call for those who have yet to see how bad things have become.<\/span><\/p>\n

A person who was well cared for and had access to healthcare and the other basic resources that sustain life would not need to put his own body and health on the line to try and save his wife\u2019s. Yet this is where we are in America. According to many people making decisions, it\u2019s where they want us to stay.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jason and Laurie are only getting what attention and donations they\u2019ve managed to attract because their approach is unusual. Not everyone in their situation can walk 100 or more miles to raise awareness; if they could, it wouldn\u2019t work. We\u2019ve set this up as some sort of perverse meritocracy, where the people in the worst situations have to outdo each other in a game of suffering Olympics just for a chance at raising a little money to sustain them.<\/span><\/p>\n

This can\u2019t be the way we do things. We need housing, healthcare, and a basic standard of living for all people so that no one needs to put themselves through grueling trials like this one just for a chance at survival.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Clear Your Schedule, Governor Newsom<\/span><\/h3>\n

Jason wasn\u2019t able to get through to Governor Newsom on his first visit to the State Capitol. Maybe we can use our voices to turn up the volume on his message until the Governor can hear it a little more clearly. You can contact his office by submitting an email through the form on\u00a0<\/span>this page<\/span><\/a>, using the phone number (916) 445-2841, or, if you\u2019re old school, sending a letter to the following mailing address:<\/span><\/p>\n

Governor Gavin Newsom<\/span>
\n1021 O Street, Suite 9000<\/span>
\nSacramento, CA 95814<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s let Governor Newsom know that we haven\u2019t forgotten about the elderly and disabled homeless people<\/a> in California and encourage him to take a meeting with Jason Means when he makes his return trip. Or sooner; I\u2019m sure the man could use a little rest!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Another Truly Dystopian Story Being Spun as a Heartwarming Tale In the corporate hellscape of late-stage capitalism we currently live in, we\u2019ve become numb to a lot of the human suffering that exists for the sake of bigger profits for … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":21857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[268,10139,227],"tags":[11059,17578,954,741],"coauthors":[8990],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21856"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21856"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22461,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21856\/revisions\/22461"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21856"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=21856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}