Need Home to Heal and Restore My Health Wellness

Hello,

For over 16years I have been serving New York City with free 24/7 mental/behavioral health, suicide awareness/prevention and mobile crisis response services through my organization and network I built across the city. My commitment and dedication to this goal came out of my personal challenges and struggles with life challenges causing emotional pain, mental health conditions, physical disabilities and psychological impacts, and seeing the need as I saw and heard many people struggling, suffering, hurting and dying. I have served thousands of people in acute crisis with services and support on various levels and many have been successful interventions that prevented suicide and homicide completion. All these years I have dedicated my life to this goal and cause of serving and helping people with no salary or income other than what I was able to raise through donations and compensations for paid workshops and speaking engagements. I committed everything into my work serving people in crisis and need and now I am in crisis and need help.

Over the past two and a half years I have been experiencing chronic headaches with debilitating pains that sometimes I pass out from or leaves me lightheaded. It has been a very stressful and painful challenge seeking healthcare services for the condition and finding answers. In June 2018 I was diagnosed with a 14mm Pineal Cyst in the brain which has been nothing but pain, vision changes and headaches beyond measure. I was in and out of the ER at various hospitals for months seeking pain management treatment and no one said anything about it until September 2019 when I was in the ER back to back for two weeks and an MRI was done showing the results of the Cyst again and stating it in the discharge report. I suffered a whole year with debilitating pains, and no one could think of telling me about the cysts and the possible correlation to the headaches and vision changes.

In 2018 I started having major chronic pains in my right foot and didn’t think much of it as I was so engrossed in my work running around 12-16hrs a day. As much as the pain was/is, I never really felt it until I got home and was settling in. Sometimes the pain lasts for days. I finally got an answer in December 2019 when I was diagnosed with a Lisfranc fracture and post traumatic osteoarthritis which came from an accident I had 25yrs ago where a truck ran over and crushed my foot and leg. I have nerve and muscle damage with the fracture and arthritis. Consultations with podiatrist and orthopedic surgeon recommends surgery to realign and fuse the bones which is scheduled for February 7th 2020 but needs me to be cleared by rheumatology and vascular because of the blood condition. On January 27th and 29th I was cleared for surgery by rheumatology and vascular. The recovery will require 6 weeks of no pressure on the foot for the pins and bones to be properly fused at which point I will need a conducive place to rest and heal.

On December 31st I was diagnosed with Prostatitis which comes with its own pains and discomforts and is being treated. On January 6th 2020 was diagnosed with kidney failure and renal disease. I have been seeing a Nephrologist since then to address the challenges and healing it. On January 15th 2020 a rheumatologist raised serious concerns with my blood flow and the Raynaud disease calling it a high risk for surgery and possibilities of gangrene developing after that could lead to losing a toe or toes if not handled properly. She discussed the high risks it presents for my foot surgery and all these health challenges are exacerbated by a blood disease I also found out I have called Raynaud Phenomenon which is triggered by stress and cold temperatures.

Over the past seven months I have created a work-life balance to still work and offer our services but make time to look more closely into my health challenges. It has not been easy and to say it is very stressful to be dealing with all this at once over such short period of time is an understatement. Many sleepless nights in tears just trying to manage pain and the loneliness of it. Too many times I've just thought of letting go and giving up as the pain is just exhausting.

I am now homeless, hurting, feeling all kinds of emotions from all these challenges and in need of housing to help address these health challenges in an environment conducive to my healing, recovery and wellness. My depression and anxiety have been triggered, and my suicide ideations are becoming too frequent for comfort. I have been in a very dark place like this many years ago which also triggered my first experiences with anxiety, depression and suicide attempt, and I don’t want to ever feel like that again or go down that path. All my doctors have advised against anything stressful because stress triggers vasoconstriction and Raynaud flare up that adds more pain and complications to my challenges and so you can imagine the precarious and sensitive position I am in and not being able to financially support myself and all these challenges, plus now needing housing. I don’t have steady income as I had to cut back on work to address the health challenges, no savings, no money to move or rent and do not qualify for services from Human Resources Administration 'HRA'.

I was medically advised against moving into men’s shelter (which I had planned to do because of the upcoming surgery and the need to be in an environment that will allow more rest, specialized care and comfort) because of the additional stressors it may add to my health at such a sensitive and critical point in my health challenges. I have made arrangements with people to come in and assist with my recovery after surgery which makes having accommodating housing even more important as I will need help for my recovery. The longer I prolong the foot surgery is the more pains and discomforts with long-term impacts. I have been reaching out for help from the community and networks I work with but everything keeps pointing to HRA and housing services which I don’t meet the requirements for or may not be able to offer a place conducive for healing and wellness under these conditions I’m experiencing. I am overwhelmed, but staying positive, faithful and focused on God’s calling over my life and purpose he needs me to serve.

So, I’m reaching out to you as a last resort for your help and support with this need and taking care of myself.

Thank You for your understanding and support with this need. It truly means a lot to me. Take care and be well.

Feb. 4th update. Surgery is scheduled for March 13th and contingent upon me securing proper living accommodations to go home after. If not, we'll have to reschedule again. Here are some images of the damages to my foot and some of what the surgery will be addressing.




~Brett A. Scudder