After spending much of Wednesday at airports and on airplanes,
New Orleans native Alton Chalk has one more stop before he moves
into his new apartment in Gilroy.
Gilroy – After spending much of Wednesday at airports and on airplanes, New Orleans native Alton Chalk has one more stop before he moves into his new apartment in Gilroy.
The 51-year-old hurricane victim spent his first night in Gilroy at the Forest Park Inn. The locally-owned hotel is offering a room to the new arrival until his apartment is ready.
The South County Housing Corporation is helping Chalk relocate to Gilroy and they’ve set aside an apartment for him in the Trees Apartment complex on Eigleberry Street. The United States Department of Agriculture asked organizations such as SCHC, which own and manage apartment complexes funded by the USDA, to hold vacant apartments for hurricane victims. Three more displaced families will be arriving in Gilroy in the coming weeks, though their arrival dates have not been confirmed. It is the goal of SCHC to furnish the apartments before the families move in.
The apartment set aside for Chalk is empty. There is no bed, no furniture and none of the smaller luxuries of home such as dishes and dish towels with which to dry them with.
Since Jack Foley, public relations manager for SCHC, announced Chalk would be coming to town this week, the non-profit organization has received calls about potential donations, but none have yet to be dropped off.
“Donations are coming in, but they are coming in very slowly and we need a lot more stuff,” Foley said. “If people just look around their houses at what they have, these are all the kinds of things we need.”
Since Chalk drove out of New Orleans the Saturday before Hurricane Katrina hit, he has been staying at an American Red Cross Shelter in Mississippi. He recalled the nights full of sounds at the shelter, where he slept next to two brothers who snored in harmony.
“There were a lot of different people and different personalities,” Chalk said. “We were all set to survive.”
He praised the American Red Cross volunteers who helped him and the more than 150 people at the shelter.
“Red Cross people came from all around the world,” he said. “And the people of Mississippi overwhelm you with kindness.”
Despite the generosity of others, Chalk is anxious to have a place of his own again. He left his second story apartment underwater with most of his belongings. He sold the car that helped save his life for $300.
Wednesday after the first night he has been able to sleep in peace, without the sounds of someone on the cot next to him and without the worries of where his new home would be.
“I’m getting close to when I will settle down,” Chalk said. “I was planning to come to California in a year. This just moved things up for me.”
Chalk suffers from dyslexia and never learned to read or write. He said he hopes he will be able to get help for his learning disability at the Northern California Branch of the International Dyslexia Association, in Berkeley.
In the past five years, Chalk has overcome major medical hurdles. Saint Louise Regional Hospital has agreed to help the evacuees who move to Gilroy coordinate their medical treatment. The community health coordinator at Saint Louise, Sister Rachela Silvestri, will meet with each of the families to help them find doctors and medical care.
Medical support is important to Chalk, who suffered a stroke in 2000 that left him temporarily paralyzed and unable to speak, underwent bypass surgery in 2001, and currently suffers from diabetes and high cholesterol.
“Living in a garlic city might cure my cholesterol,” said the newcomer, who hopes to try some of the local herb soon. “Now I just need to get a car so I can explore this beautiful area.”
South County Housing Corporation is coordinating a donation drive to fill the apartments of arriving evacuees and ask that potential donors call ahead to arrange for weekend drop offs. Contact Patty Pena at 842-9181 during the week or Danil Chavez at 781-3505 during the weekend. SCHC has established the “South County Housing Hurricane Relief Fund” at South Valley National Bank for monetary donations.
