I found this man walking back to his Uptown apartment on crutches carrying a bag of groceries from a store that was more than a mile away. I asked if I could help him carry the groceries; he gladly took my help. On the way, he told me that he had been “jack-rolled by four Indians.” They had broken his ankle, then taken his wallet, his money, his paycheck, his keys and his car. He had come to Chicago from Kentucky looking for work as a machine operator. But with no car, he lost his job. Then his wife left him. He tried to get on welfare, but visiting all the required offices was difficult on crutches. There were grocery stores closer to his house, but none would give him credit. Note the hole in wall, the bed with no sheets and the eating area with one hard, wooden chair.
