Get Bennie Back on His Feet

Since February, my dad, Bennie, has been in the hospital, healing from a bone infection we have been battling since 2018 when he moved in with me from Florida to Minnesota, after years of housing instability. 

While he’s been in and out of the hospital numerous times, this time, he was days away from needing a leg amputation. As a diabetic on dialysis, he is more susceptible to bone infections and fights an uphill battle internally to be able to fight it off.  Without proper care, access to healthy food, and folks around able to support his daily needs, it is incredibly difficult to heal his body. 

This is why I am currently raising $5,500 to support his healing process for the next 8 weeks.

After being in the hospital for several weeks, we were abruptly informed that they planned to discharge him. The options given to us were either 1. he be sent to a transitional care unit (aka nursing home) or 2. identify regular care to keep him completely off his feet and support with giving him his IV medication. For our family, a nursing home is not an option due to the high rates of COVID-19, the unlikelihood my dad would survive if he caught it, and the inaccess to the parts of his life that support his mental health (being w/ his dog Capone, socializing with our “pod”, and being in the comfort of his own space). 

We have filed an emergency request via the county to access PCA (personal care attendant) labor. This is a process that can take several weeks. The healthcare system and assistance from our government, especially within these last 12 months, is nonexistent and rooted in the violence of racial capitalism. Many Black people die just waiting for the care they need.

For the last two weeks, I have been provide care directly but it isn’t sustainable or healthy for either of us. As we navigate longer term options, I am planning to hire support directly, to make sure that my dad can beat this and work toward long term sustainability and management of his chronic diseases to live many more years with us. 

I am asking community to help me raise the $5,500 needed to support his direct care and small improvements to his living space to adjust to being completely wheelchair bound while he heals. 
Break down of costs:
~$600/week for support Care giver to come M-F
$500 for home improvements

A little about us: 

My dad is from south Florida, raised in Fort Lauderdale, where I was born. He is the eldest of a single Black mama who worked in the local hospital cafeteria most her life. I remember a trip back to visit family when he brought me to the flea market down there. As we stood out on the parking lot black top in the Florida sun, he told me about his first job setting up tables for vendors early each morning. To support his family, he has been working since he was 11 years old. Until the last few years, he has spent most days of his life in back-breaking labor that many will never have to experience because of Black bodies like his. 


In his twenties, he was diagnosed with Type-1 diabetes and has struggled since to maintain his health while he has watched his still young body deteriorate. The generational pain of this disease runs deep. My dad watched his own grandmother die from it, after losing both her legs. Poverty and racism are the reasons I even have to write this. There are so many compounding factors to what has brought us here. 

Right now, our goal is to make sure one day he can run around with his first grandchild (and my nibbling).