Spencer Solves It: 71-year-old veteran facing eviction

HOUSTON – At 71 years old, Air Force veteran Michael Blazewski struggles to make it inside the front door of his apartment in his wheelchair.

It’s the same apartment he has been notified he’s being evicted from.

“When you don’t have enough money for anything. I mean anything, even food right now, you can’t pay your rent on time” Blazewski said while shaking his head.

He served in the Air Force Security Division as a decoder. That means he was a code-breaker charged with deciphering enemy codes. But now, decades later, Blazewski is suffering from neuropathy in both arms, hands and legs and is in a wheelchair.

Unable to work right now, Blazewski survives on social security payments, but over the last few months, he has fallen two months behind on his rent.

So, if he doesn’t pay the more than the $1,500 he owes in back rent, he will be evicted.

“When I got the eviction notice it was like my heart sunk into my stomach. I thought my life is coming to an end. I can’t survive out on the street, homeless. Not in my wheelchair,” Blazewski said.

Out of desperation, that is when he wrote to Spencer Solves It in hopes to avoid being thrown out of his apartment.

And right away, we contacted an agency called U.S. Vets, a charitable organization that helps veterans nationwide who are homeless or are headed toward homelessness.

“It is our mission to help veterans who are struggling with homelessness. We work to get them back on their feet and keep them from falling into the homeless population,” said Oskar Gonzalez-Yetzirah, a marine veteran and Outreach Coordinator for U.S. Vets in Houston.

After interviewing Blazewski, U.S. Vets has agreed to pay for two months of rent for him, enough to get him safely to August, when he says he will finally be able to catch up financially.

For Blazewski, a blessing and one that Mike says he will never forget.

“You are basically saving my life because I really don’t think I could make it on the street. And I am so grateful, you have no idea. I will never forget this. Thank You,” Mike said, as a small smile began to form underneath his COVID-19 mask.


About the Author:

Emmy-winning investigative reporter, insanely competitive tennis player, skier, weightlifter, crazy rock & roll drummer (John Bonham is my hero). Husband to Veronica and loving cat father to Bella and Meemo.