The Suit Case Man is Missing

Jim, a/k/a the "Suitcase Man" has been reported missing. He's a "poor soul." I don't know how to describe him. Let's say that his cognitive ability is not normal. He walks all over carrying a suitcase. It's like his pocketbook. Inside is "stuff" he might need. Jerks sometime push him around, insult him, and he's even been "rolled".
I met him when I use to work for Human Services. He was one of our clients. When the department was eliminated, I still helped him. I'd help him fill out forms: fuel assistance, medicare, disability, transportation, etc. I'd bring him to the welfare office, St. Vicent de Paul's store, to pay his rent. He lived in subsidized housing. I helped him as much as I could until I got very sick a couple of years ago. That was a sign to me to slow down. I just couldn't help him anymore when I was coping with trying to help myself. All I can do now is pray for him.
His land lady from the Housing Authority telephoned me to tell me that she reported him missing. No one has seen him lately. Everyone keeps an eye out for him. The police haven't seen him around, nor the bus drivers, or train conductors. The land lady went inside him apartment and it didn't look like he'd been there for days.
I'm fearful that he might be ill, or worse. I also don't trust the Housing Authority. Poor Jim also has compulsive hoarding disorder. The authorities have been trying to get him out for years. I admit he is a fire hazard. But they don't find him any place else for him to live. He'd be homeless. He was homeless before, but he's in his 70's, now. He refuses to go into a nursing home. He just doesn't understand. Part of me thinks, that he isn't missing; the Housing is just looking for an excuse to take his apartment.
Sigh...............all I can do is pray.
I wrote a poem about Jim.

Sometimes I see him in the Common,
Sometimes he appears on the "T,"

It's Jim, the Suitcase man,
My friend who calls me an angel.

He's walked the day; God knows where!
Traveling for hope, looking for love.

He's talking to invisible people.
But they're nicer than most.

Head down, one foot in front of the other.
Plod, plod, plod along..........my friend.


"You are the God of the lowly, the helper of the oppressed, the supporter of the weak, the protector of the forsaken, the savior of those without hope." Judith 9: