Coler-Goldwater Patient's Mom Seeking Short Term Housing On Roosevelt Island

Image from Nick's Crusade

I received the following message seeking short-term housing assistance for the mother of a new incoming patient at Coler-Goldwater Hospital.

Erica from RIOC recommended I contact you, as island bloggers.

I am writing on behalf of someone who will soon be living on Roosevelt
Island. Nick Dupree will be a patient for long-term rehabilitation at
the Goldwater campus of the Coler-Goldwater Hospital. This comes at
the end of a long struggle to receive appropriate services, which has
him leaving his state and traveling to New York. If you are interested,
please feel free to read more about it at: http://www.nickscrusade.org

What I am trying to find out is if it is possible to find short-term
accommodation on the island. Nick will arrive in in New York on August
28, and will be traveling with his mother, who will be staying for 7
days to help him transition at the hospital. While staff at
Coler-Goldwater have been very accommodating so far, they cannot
actually provide a place for her to stay. Since there is no hotel on the
island, they recommend staying nearby in Manhattan or Queens. Ordinarily
this would not be an issue, but his mother is in very poor health
herself. She cannot walk more than a few blocks, and it would be very
difficult for her to navigate the subways or buses.

My goal, as a friend, patient representative, and New Yorker, is to try
and find a way for her to stay within walking distance of the hospital,
perhaps with someone who is living on the island. I'm in a position to
collect funds to compensate someone who could provide that kind of
accommodation.

Please let me know if there are any suggestions or leads I could try. I
appreciate very much the time you've taken to read this e-mail. Please
do not hesitate to reply to this message with any questions or comments...

Sincerely,

Alejandra

Here's more on Nick:

If you've never heard of Nick Dupree, a quick search on the web will bring up some interesting facts. Nick is a 26 year-old health care activist, writer, and former student from Spring Hill College in Mobile, AL. He also has an undiagnosed physical disability which necessitates the use of a motorized wheelchair and a ventilator to breathe at all times, and he requires 24 hour physical assistance to live.

And:

NBC 15 first introduced you to Nick in the summer of 2001 when at the age of 18, this quadriplegic with a rare form of muscular dystrophy began an on-line crusade from his bedroom to change a state medicaid law that would have otherwise terminated his home nursing care on his 21st birthday.

James Tucker is ADAP's lead attorney, "He (Nick) has had an extraordinary impact not just in Alabama but throughout the country. He testified in front of Congress. People throughout the 50 states and around the world were part of his campaign. They knew about Nick's crusade."

If anyone can help, please contact friendsofnick@gmail.com