#seniors

Myself and my horse have two good (human) friends. They are good friends and good people. They are *kind* people without the passing glance of a meanstreak between them. T. is in his 60s, has COPD relative to a workplace chemical accident when he was younger, grew up in a shockingly abusive household (his brother, when they were teenagers, shot and killed their father), and yet is about as soft and gentle as a flower, one of those tall, wavy kinds in the autumn. He has had custody of his son L. since L. was a wee baby. L.'s mother cannot and has never been able to make safe, consistent parenting choices. L. is 18, autistic with high support needs, and semi-verbal (he does not use a lot of direct conversational speech, a lot of spontaneous and mitigated echolalia). He is an utterly charming young man who adores horses and mine in particular. With time at the barn, he has come to tolerate chickens, and is willing to pet the cat. He is a great listener, kind and empathetic (like dad), and quite capable (he even got an award recently at his pre-voc program).

Unfortunately: they are also without stable, permanent housing and have been for sometime, indeed virtually all the five years I've known them. They were only placed in a shelter in early 2024 after T. Was hospitalized with pneumonia and L's mother had a breakdown while caring for him (for 5 days). The shelter staff, busy putting out fires (Massachusetts is a right to shelter state), have had little time for them and have been... Less than helpful to the point of being entirely cavalier about their situation.

The clock is short. Their shelter ends on October 11th and they have to leave. They currently have nowhere to go except to pay out of pocket for a hotel while they re-apply to the shelter system. Winter is incoming, faster than we think in days of sun and 70s.