"One day in the life of Andrey" /Taiga/

___ I have known this guy since childhood. Since that time, as a child, he ran to the bazaar and helped with little things: bring boxes, remove garbage after a working day. The sellers loved him and always indulged in something: who poured sweets, who biscuits ... Andryushka carefully put the gifts in a bag and ran home happy.
I can’t say anything bad about him. Kind, sympathetic and hardworking boy, he won’t say anything rude, he always politely greets. Our acquaintance was not close, so I was never particularly interested in the details of his life.
___ At some time I lost sight of the guy. I heard briefly that they seemed to be taken to a shelter. Again I met Andrei by accident several years ago on the street. Then he went on his own. The year before last, he was already moving with his wand, and at the last meeting he was moving with a trolley, and it was clear that he had difficulty walking. This time I could not pass by and decided to talk heart to heart. Andrei invited me to visit, and openly opened tea:
“Mom died and they took me to a shelter. For five years, the house where it was registered was demolished, there was nowhere to go. I have a second disability group - multiple sclerosis. The disease is congenital and inherited from my mother, who died from her. For some time, the disease did not manifest itself in any way, but at some point it began to sharply progress. "
___ Andrey’s dwelling shocked me: the floors were covered with dust, the old window frames, the dirty walls, the bathtub blackened by rust, the socket sparkling from the slightest touch, and ... the toilet was broken. Just imagine - a practically stray person had to take out a bucket with his stool from the second floor to the street.
But Andrei was served by a social worker. Why, seeing such neglect, he did not ring all the bells and did not help put the room in order ?! I found out that Andrei has relatives, and I also address this question to them.
___ Having talked, we went to the administration, with the desire to find out how the line for the apartment is moving, in the list of which in 2015 he was already the 9th. Having got to the authorities, they were surprised to learn that the line miraculously moved from 9th to 11th places, and no housing is expected in the near future, because it simply does not exist.
What to do? How to draw attention to the big troubles and misfortunes of an ordinary disabled person? Having talked with Andrey, we decide to make a photo story: take his life, show the world that he is still alive, breathing and even hoping for something. And put the material on social networks.
___ And we were not mistaken. The people have heard!
Showered with comments. Someone expressed their sympathy, someone wondered how it is possible to live like that in our time, someone was indignant, believing that he was not worthy of an apartment ...
But there were still more kind and sympathetic people. Already that evening, an indifferent girl from Anzhero-Sudzhensk filed a petition with an appeal to the governor’s reception asking for help. The next day, people began to hand over vegetables and products for Andrey; he had an almost new wheelchair and, most importantly, a refrigerator!
Social workers also came to their senses: they whitened the room, painted the floors and the window, repaired the outlet, and finally repaired the toilet. But most importantly, social services helped us draw up a lawsuit in court demanding that we provide him with the housing prescribed by law.
___ Today Andrey is already doing well. We managed to arrange the first disability group, he received a one-room apartment in a new building. And the most surprising - there was a girl who accepted him for who she is. In 2018, the guys registered and live a completely quiet family life.
 

Тайга, 2015 год