With Doctor’s Help, Homeless Man Learns To Heal His Life
(Judith Graham, Chicago Tribune)
Three years ago, Everett Atkinson was a medical disaster waiting to happen.
The 6-foot-7 homeless man couldn't stand up long without his legs swelling dangerously. His heart was bad, his circulatory system was damaged and his body was giving out after years of alcoholism, drug abuse and neglect.
Help came his way, unexpectedly, from a doctor who had bought StreetWise newspapers from Atkinson for years. When Dr. Allen Goldberg learned Atkinson had been thrown out of a flophouse because he couldn't pay the bill, the doctor offered him a chance to live in his building for a while and rebuild his health.
It was an act of compassion that reverberates to this day. The retired pediatrician has become a mentor to a man who lost his way and wanted a fresh start. Each man, in coming to know the other, has opened his eyes to another way of life.
Read the rest of the story here.
