Terry Lovell has been a WHCHC resident for about 15 years. He was a resident at WHCHC’s first apartment project on Fountain Avenue, and subsequently moved to Detroit Bungalows following surgery.

“I liked living at Fountain Avenue, but I have Type I Diabetes, and had to have my right leg amputated below the knee, so I needed an accessible unit. Just in the nick of time, a bungalow became available that was accessible.”

Terry has been living with Type I Diabetes for almost 30 years, since he was in his early 20s. As with many Type I Diabetics, it runs throughout his family, and 2 of his sisters also have Type I.

“When I first came down with it, I was sick for a few months, and didn’t really know what was wrong. Then one day I realized how sick I actually was, and it took me all day just to get out of my apartment. I asked my neighbor if she would take me to the hospital, but she didn’t realize how sick I really was either. She said she’d have to make dinner for her husband first.” He can laugh at the memory of that now, but at the time it was really life-or-death. “The doctor who worked on me said if it had been another 10 minutes, I would have been dead.”

Terry takes his insulin and checks his blood sugar twice a day, but over the years diabetic neuropathy affected his legs. Peripheral nerves and blood flow can be restricted, which can lead to circulation problems in the extremities. Symptoms usually develop gradually over years, and in Terry’s case, finally resulted in the amputation of his foot and leg below the knee.

Born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, Terry decided to enlist in the Navy in 1972, but instead of seeing the world, he was stationed on a ship in dry-dock the whole time, and was glad when his duty ended. When he got out, he hitchhiked around the country and enjoyed life. He had always been very interested in fairs and midways, so found work at various concessions and game stands to be a great pastime. “I loved to work the games—I love selling!” After traveling to Santa Barbara, he eventually moved to LA, and then was diagnosed with diabetes.

Terry’s kidney’s are also not functining properly, and he goes for dialysis treatment 3 times a week to the VA hospital. His quest to find remedies for his diabetes has led him to learn much about herbal, dietary and nutritional remedies, and he even once worked as a nutritionist in the Hollywood area. He has found the internet to be a great resource. “I am constantly on the lookout for help and the latest information I can find on alternative medicine.”

By nature a happy and gregarious person, Terry likes people and enjoys going to Westwood on weekends, where he has a concession stand by a Whole Foods market there, where he sells soaps, incense, sage, body oils and other things. “I have a good time there meeting people and getting out, since regular work is not possible for me because of my physical condition.”

On a beautiful July afternoon, WHCHC Housing News sat down with WHCHC residents Mary Diaz and her son Eduardo to enjoy big Mac’s and fries.

Diagnosed with autism, Eduardo is shy and does not volunteer any words, but remains extremely attentive to the conversation, and he probably knows just about everything that is being said. He gives us both a friendly shy smile, and it is a pleasure to sit and talk with him and his mother.

Mary and Eduardo moved into WHCHC’s Fountain Avenue Apartments in November of 2008. For several years Mary had cared for both her elderly mother and for Eduardo. Mary had filled out an application and was on the WHCHC wait list when her mother passed away.

“My mother knew we were going to get an affordable apartment at some point, but we didn’t know when. She was so happy to know that we would be taken care of. On the day of her funeral I got home and there was a message on my answering machine that there was an apartment for us, and I just knew it was a gift from my mother....she is my angel!”

It is a full-time job for Mary to care for Eduardo. He attends Virgil Middle School’s special education classes, and does extremely well, getting along with all his classmates. He also participates in class activities at the Lanterman Center as well. “Eduardo was a wonderful baby, and there was no indication that there was anything different about him until he was about 2-1/2 years old, when I realized that, although I had been speaking to him in both Spanish and English ever since he was born, he was not comprehending Spanish at all.” Mary had raised her daughter in this bilingual way, and knew that he should be fluent in both languages by that time.

Mary said that Eduardo talked early, and in fact talked all the time until around the age of 4 or 5, and then began to withdraw, and now talks very little.

One could not imagine a mother more suited to care for an autistic child. Mary is respectful of Eduardo’s preferences and treats him with dignity as a young adult. Most of all, she showers him with the kind of love that fosters self-assurance. Blessed with a sweet and kind disposition, it is obvious he is enjoying his life.

Eduardo has just turned 12, and is on the brink of many new discoveries and avenues for exploration in his young life. He has just begun to discover music, playing the piano and the guitar, and also making things with his hands. “He loves movies on TV, but his favorite thing to watch is the Food Channel. He likes to watch the chefs take pots and pans out of the cupboards, and make all the different plates of food!”

Both Mary and Eduardo love the location of their apartment. “We can walk to Target, and the market--everything is so close. Eduardo’s favorite thing is to come home to our apartment. He just loves it!” Mary loves it too, and loves knowing that she has the security of an affordable home to live in and raise her son.

Like so many residents of WHCHC’s buildings, Zoran is happy to be here. Born in Serbia, he came to the United States as an exchange student in 1987, and settled in Sacramento with his sponsor family until 2001.

An industrious and gregarious person, Zoran studied English in an ESL class. “I did not know a word of English when I arrived! I enrolled in college and was planning to study international business when a car accident changed my life.”

Zoran was stopped at a red light, when a drunk driver hit him from behind going 80 miles an hour. “I was in a coma for 16 hours, and I lost my speech.” His neck and back were broken, and he was in the hospital for six months. “Three times they called a Serbian priest to give me last rites,” he says now with a smile. “They told me I would be paralyzed for the rest of my life.”

Needless to say, Zoran beat the odds and not only survived, but thrives now, with full use of his speech and muscles. “I don’t even have any headaches.” Having this apartment has changed my life once again.”

He moved down to Los Angeles after his recovery, but could only find an apartment in an unsafe area, until he got a call from WHCHC about an opening for the apartment, having been on the waiting list for six years.

“This apartment has given me a sense of security that had been missing in my life for many, many years. It has finally hit me, now that I am settling in, how very lucky I am to be able to live here in peace and quiet.”

A breast cancer survivor for almost fifty years, Pearline credits her good health with a disciplined life and routine that includes getting up at the same time every morning, eating a good breakfast and walking every day!

Pearline's daughter Ellerine is her close friend as well as a care provider for Pearline when needed. A professional jazz singer and actress, Ellerine laughs with joy remembering the notice of Pearline's admittance to Laurel Norton. "Being able to relocate Mom right in the same neighborhood where she'd lived for so long was such a special blessing."

She and Pearline do the shopping together and enjoy each other's company. They share an appreciation for life's simple gifts and a loving bond that is a pleasure to see.

"I love this place" says Pearline, "it is so peaceful and quiet, and everyone at WHCHC has been wonderful to me, especially our manager here, Eduard."

In thinking aloud about her long and healthy life, Pearline says "I was never disobedient to anyone. I honored my parents and did for them, and I think that's why God has kept me here so long. Osteoporosis has slowed me down a bit, but Ellerine is a wonderful daughter and a great help to me."

You are an inspiration to us all, Pearline!

One of WHCHC’s greatest pleasures is being able to rovide apartments for those most at risk. The stories of how people find their way to WHCHC are just as miraculous as their apartments are to their lives!

Enter one Clara Denson--a woman of independent means, diagnosed with polio at age 3, but now living a full and productive life regardless of difficulties. Growing up in Beaumont, Texas, Clara’s polio went into remission as she reached her twenties.

Even though Clara underwent surgeries every summer of her childhood, she continued to thrive. “I never lived my life or functioned in any way as a disabled person. I was fortunate to work in a corporate environment all my adult life.” Clara had even mastered walking without a discernable limp.

In 1999 however, Clara found her condition suddenly worsening, and she was referred to the Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey, California, where she was diagnosed with Post Polio Syndrome (PPS), something she had never even heard of. “I went into a very dark place inside myself for a long time. Fear and denial took hold of my body and spirit--my mind was consumed with the fear of not being able to control my life and take care of myself.”

For fifteen years, Clara had lived in a two-story Victorian house. But once the PPS began to progress, and she broke her ankle, Clara could no longer climb the stairs. “For the last couple of years, I was actually crawling up and down the stairs, and paying a neighbor to take my power wheelchair apart and carry it downstairs and put it together again each time I needed to go out.”

With her physical condition failing, Clara finally confided her despair to her doctor. She had to admit she was no longer able to make decisions, set goals, or even think about how to live her life now with PPS. Her doctor immediately referred her to Rancho’s Vocational Services Program.

“From the very first appointments I had there, my life started changing in the most amazing ways” Clara says with a big smile and sigh of relief. “I started their Work Readiness Program in 2004, because I’ve worked all my life and wanted to do that again. That gave me the tools I needed to assess my own life, set goals, and develop a life plan.’’ They showed me--and are still showing me--how to learn, listen, and pay attention to my body as it changes. Knowledge is power, and their program showed me how to start taking my life back.”

After a two-year search for a ground-floor apartment she could afford, she suddenly heard about the opening of WHCHC’s Havenhurst building in the fall of 2004. She quickly got her paperwork together and sent in her application, having no idea what to expect.

Out of over 800 applicants, Clara’s name was drawn, but after her first interview she had to wait a few anxious weeks to hear the good news. With tears in her eyes, she remembers the day when they handed her a set of keys and said “‘Clara, would you like to see your new apartment?’” After years of actually having to crawl up and down a flight of stairs every time she had to leave her apartment, Clara was going to have a chance at life again.

“It all happened so fast after that,” Clara says, “that I decided to leave the past behind and bring very little furniture with me.” Arriving with few material possessions but, for the first time in years, a huge will to live--Clara Denson began her new life.

Then, another amazing thing happened. Only weeks after moving in, Clara struck up a conversation with a technician installing some accessible additions to her unit. She learned he had an opening at his medical equipment and services company for a Customer Service Representative. So, Clara had a new apartment and now would have a new job--and she has been working there for three years! Not only that, the company just happens to be four blocks from her new apartment!

Clara cannot say enough good things about the WHCHC apartment that gave her a new beginning, and the Work Readiness Program that got her back into the workforce. “I keep my Work Readiness notebook within hands’ reach always, and I often refer to it. I use the tools inside from day to day to keep myself focused. My teacher always tells me to work smart, listen to what my body is telling me, and that I can attain those goals and dreams to keep working longer and healthier.”

When WHCHC acquired the property, John was relocated until the project was completed. “WHCHC was wonderful to me, they did everyting, and then returned me to a wonderful refurbished apartment!” So John is an original tenant of the building, having lived there since 1952!

After hanging up his dancing shoes, John loved being a prop man for many televsion shows, including “Police Woman” with Angie Dickenson, “Fantasy Island,” “Hart to Hart” and “Knots Landing” to name just a few.

Originally from Newark, New Jersey and a graduate of the School for the Performing Arts in New York, John got his first job at 13 and never looked back. Over his long career, his talents also took him to Las Vegas, where he danced in shows at all the big name Las Vegas Hotels on the Strip.

After retirement at age 70, John has continued to teach acting through West Hollywood Theater Workshops, where he produces and directs his own award-winning West Hollywood public access talk show, The “John Angelo Interviews”. His video taped version of his classes has earned him the West Hollywood Public Access User’s Choice Award.

John’s love of West Hollywood and longstanding engagement in pubic affairs has gained him the honor of being recognized as “Outstanding Senior” in the City of West Hollywood.

But John is not very interested in talking about his accomplishments--he doesn’t even have any 8x10 glossies! Instead, what one notices most about John is his kindness, and his sense of delight and eagerness about life. He always remembers what is important to him, living a peaceful life with his longtime pal Eddie Langdon, and friends and family. John also loves spend time assisting at a local Japanese healing center, and reserves time to devote to his Baha’i faith.

When asked about Gene Kelly and “Singin’ In The Rain”, John just laughed and said modestly, “Well, I did dance the umbrella number in Gene’s place for a week before they shot it, because he was sick. They needed to set up the camera shots and lighting.“
And, when Gene returned and they filmed the actual scene, John was the man in the raincoat that Gene Kelly handed the umbrella to at the end. So all of us have been seeing John Angelo all these years in “Singin’ In The Rain!!!” It doesn’t get any better than that!!

Michael, a resident of WHCHC’s Palm View Apartments since 2001, was living in Nevada when he received a call from the Actors’ Fund that his name had been selected to receive an apartment at Palm View.

Michael had been very ill with HIV when he arrived at Palm View, but has recovered beautifully during his years there. “Knowing that I have affordable rent and help from the Actors’ Fund is really a great comfort to me. It is a beautiful building--everything you could
ever want--and for the first time in my life, I have instant hot water for my shower!”

An actor for 20 years, Michael practices on his piano and sings occasionally, but is looking to get involved with an acting group again, perhaps reading plays and discussing the craft of acting.A former partner was Michael’s inspiration to become a marathon runner. “The support you feel from the crowd is beautiful and powerful and I wish everyone could feel that.” Michael was once on the other end of that support when he followed his partner around the world on his marathons. Michael also completed a 5K Revlon Run/Walk in May of 2007 with the Actors” Fund Team.

When he was “just” a spectator, he wrote the poem (at right) because he was “moved and inspired by runners hearts to do this inhuman feat.” After completing the LA marathon, he talked to a fellow runner, inspiring him to run next year. “Now I was the one inspiring (someone else) to run. Full circle. If you have ever even thought about running a marathon...do it.”