Public Employee Press

Rescue
A union crisis team saves Morris Daniel-stricken with acute multiple sclerosis-from economic ruin, including imminent eviction and the loss of his health care and pension.

By GREGORY N. HEIRES

The first signs were dizzy spells. Then memory lapses.

Soon Computer Associate Morris Daniel started to stumble and fall.

After $60,000 worth of medical exams, Daniel's doctor delivered the diagnosis - multiple sclerosis.

"It was like a bomb dropped on me," said Daniel, 61, who also suffers from diabetes.

"My doctor says one day I may not even know my own name," he told a DC 37 team led by Local 2627 President Robert D. Ajaye that made an emergency visit to his Staten Island apartment April 24. If the team hadn't helped that day, Daniel would have missed a filing deadline and lost his pension and health-care coverage.

Multiple sclerosis hits the brain and central nervous system. Patients experience muscle spasms, loss of balance, incontinence, difficulty reasoning, depression, and loss of vision, hearing and memory. People with MS typically lose the ability to walk before they die.

Spinning out of control

Daniel, a Vietnam veteran, went out on paid medical leave in November, following the advice of his supervisor at the Human Resources Administration, Peter Early.

Early had noticed how unsteady Daniel had become and feared for the safety of the Local 2627 member as he commuted between Staten Island and Manhattan on the bus, ferry and subway.

Daniel hoped the time off would let him prepare for retirement while enjoying his extensive CD and DVD collection.

But, as the DC 37 team learned on their visit, it didn't work out that way.

As Daniel's cognitive abilities and physical health deteriorated, his life spun out of control. He lost the use of his left hand. His weight plummeted as he failed to eat three meals a day. "I'm skin and bones," he acknowledged.

Unable to drive, Daniel got tickets because he couldn't move his car to avoid parking violations.

Seven thousand dollars were apparently stolen from his Municipal Credit Union account. He started to miss paying his $1,000 mortgage and $1,000 maintenance and now owes $33,000 on them. "I don't have a dollar," he said. After he received an eviction notice, he fortunately got in touch with the union's Municipal Employees Legal Services, where Supervising Attorney William Whalen was able to halt the eviction.

"If Morris hadn't contacted us, there was a good possibility that he would have wound up homeless," Whalen said.

Ajaye got involved when Early called Local 2627 in April. Somehow, Daniel's case had slipped through the city bureaucracy, which should have notified the union earlier that Daniel was out on medical leave.

Alarmed, Ajaye immediately consulted with DC 37 Professional Division Director Nola R. Brooker. Brooker reached out to Health and Security Plan Administrator Cynthia Chin-Marshall, who referred her to the plan's Personal Service Unit and its Annuity, Health and Pension Unit.

"In effect, we put together a crisis intervention team," Brooker said.

Supervising Social Worker Stephanie Kleinberg, Health and Pension Counselor Norman E. Isaacs and Council Rep Jon Ng accompanied Ajaye on the April 24 visit to Daniel's cluttered apartment."We got the ball rolling right away," said Ng, who later returned to provide further assistance.

As Kleinberg interviewed Daniel about his living conditions, personal finances and health, Ng and Daniel phoned officials at HRA, the New York City Employees Retirement System and the Employee Benefits Program to straighten out his employment and pension status. They got Daniel a grace period to file for retirement, which will trigger his pension payments and continue his health-care coverage.

After the visit, Kleinberg arranged for Meals on Wheels, to ensure that Daniel eats at least one meal a day. She also contacted a case management agency, Volunteers of America, which assigned a Caseworker to help him. Local 2627 1st Vice President Michael Lanni made follow-up visits (once with hamburgers), and Isaacs continues to help Daniel with the pension paperwork. The union helped Daniel secure a pension loan of tens of thousands of dollars.

Meanwhile, Local 371 member Marina Potashnik, a Caseworker at HRA's Adult Protective Services, is helping Daniel apply for Social Security disability coverage and public assistance, which will include cash assistance and food stamps.

Isaacs advised him to accept the small penalty for early retirement so his pension payments can begin before he turns 62 in December, when he will be eligible for Social Security. Daniel was earning $60,000 when he left city service; his pension and Social Security will probably amount to about half of that, still too much for Medicaid eligibility.

Daniel has no siblings and says he will likely sell his apartment with the help of his 22-year-old daughter, Courtney. "My daughter hopes we can sell the apartment and make sure I don't end up in a place where there are roaches and rats," Daniel said.

Saved from homelessness

"I don't believe Morris will really be able to live on his own," said Kleinberg, who will continue to monitor his case. "He will probably need assisted living, which could be too expensive," she said. "He may have to spend down to qualify for Medicaid."

Kleinberg plans to enroll Daniel in PSU's Outreach Program, a phone-based service for the elderly and people with disabilities.

"Without the union, Morris Daniel would probably be living in the street right now," a misty-eyed Ajaye told the DC 37 Delegates at their monthly meeting shortly after the emergency visit. Many appeared shaken when they heard of Daniel's situation.

"We are about more than dollars and cents," said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts, visibly moved by Ajaye's testimony. "We're a union with a heart."

"This is what we are all about," said Brooker, "saving jobs and saving lives."