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Stu Bykofsky: In Upper Darby, good man at the end of his rope
WHEN YOU get to the end
of the rope, what do you see?
I see Thomas Nager.
Plump and pale at 55, he's an Upper Darby lifer, never married, worked hard at jobs that would not land him in a Main Line colonial.
Never wanted it, either. Upper Darby's home. He's happy there.
Or, he would be, but for worrying about eviction. He's got a thin $200 between himself and life on the street.
"I feel like a failure," he says. "I've never asked anyone for help."
I don't think Tom's a failure; he's just among the working poor.
Tom was OK until 2007, when he got hit by a double whammy.
His aunt, Maria DiRenza, died in September. For five years they had shared the bills and rent in a small, two-bedroom apartment in a past-its-prime brick building near 69th Street.
A few months earlier, due to osteoarthritis in his knees that put him on crutches, Tom took a leave of absence and lost his slot as a site supervisor for AlliedBarton Security Services. He returned to a lower-paying desk job, working midnight to 8 a.m. and clearing $1,060 a month. His rent is $900 (including utilities), leaving $160 a month for everything else.
The money crunch is aggravated by nine prescription medicines he must take daily. He had a heart valve implanted in 1990, he has a bad back, the arthritis and gout. If troubles were rain, Tom would be a reservoir.
He's current on insurance for the '97 Mercury Sable - it had been his aunt's car - which he needs to get to work. Tom prays that the car's health remains better than his.
His apartment's a bit messy, Tom admits sorrowfully. Things are dusty, probably because the windows are open because there's no air conditioning. One living-room wall is a display of Batman figurines, with other characters mixed in.
He used to be a collector, but no more.
"You can't collect when you need money to live," he says.
His collection lacks the value to help him out of his hole. He has no credit cards, his savings are gone and he just sold his last gold jewelry for $100.
Like many Americans, he's living paycheck to paycheck, but his bills stack higher than his checks. The quickest fix would be a cheaper apartment, maybe $500 a month plus utilities. Because everything and everyone he knows is in Upper Darby, he wants to stay there.
He's looked online, without success. Now the vise is tightening. Short on this month's rent, the landlord agreed to wait until payday for the rest, but with a $50 late fee. It's financially impossible for Tom to keep up.
The
Daily News has good reach in Delaware County and I'm hoping someone might know of a good place for a good man - and his two cats, Buddy, 4, and Misha, 12. They are Tom's family.
As for government help, Tom's not old enough and he's not poor enough.
"Aid seems geared more to mothers and children than a single male who's in difficulty," he says without bitterness.
Given his physical problems, he should be on disability, but there's a Catch-22: You can't claim to be "disabled" if you work. But if Tom doesn't work, he'll be sunk.
And Tom doesn't want to stop working. He'd love a part-time, work-at-home job to supplement his full-time job, so that he could stay put. He's checked out a few home jobs on his computer, but they smelled liked scams.
Tom wants to take care of himself, as he always has, but he's worried. "If any emergency happens, I don't know how I would handle it. I know I'm not in a unique situation."
Not unique, but still terrifying.
Tom's dangling at the end of his rope.
E-mail stubyko@phillynews.com or call 215-854-5977. For recent columns:
