The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
‘One person helping one person’ can change lives
Circle of friendship and support keeps growing.
On a recent rainy afternoon, Leon Sims, 91, and his friends, Jane Warring and her wife, Kelli Moore, set up a small Christmas tree in his East Point apartment. As they decorated the tree with red ornaments and purple ribbons, Bing Crosby played on the stereo. It was a cozy holiday moment and a nice way to end a chilly afternoon of grocery shopping.
For years, Sims, a widower with no children, had lived alone in a bed-bug infested unit with a broken stove in a run-down apartment building in East Point. He exchanged his Social Security check for cash at a local gas station, and paid his bills by money order. The only regular, face-toface contact he had with another human being was a home health aide, covered by Medicaid, who gave him a twice weekly bath.
But everything changed in the winter of November 2012 when
Warring, then a 32-year-old corporate attorney doing volunteer legal work, knocked on Sims’ door. She had agreed to take on his bed-bug case. But from the moment she stepped inside his apartment, she realized his problems extended beyond the bugs.
As reported in a Personal Journeys story called “The Fixer” in February, Warring helped Sims find a clean, safe apartment. She helped replace his clothes and furniture, which had been too bug-infested to salvage. She helped him learn how to use a glucose monitoring kit to better manage his diabetes. She helped him set up a bank account. And when she was done, she didn’t walk away. She remained a steady presence in Sims’ life, helping him with grocery shopping and doctors appointments.
More importantly, though, she provided Sims with companionship.
Before Warring came into his life, Sims spent much of his time in solitude. There was his sister, his only living relative, who lived in Griffin and called him every night to check on him; a friendly cabbie he paid to take him around town; a neighbor who occasionally met him for a meal at a barbecue restaurant.
But now Warring and Moore included Sims in their holiday celebrations. They took him on outings, including his first Braves game.
In October they went to Six Flags Over Georgia, where Sims tried chili fries for the first time and gave them a thumbs-up.
“After five hours of exploring the park, I asked Mr. Sims if he was tired, and he said, ‘No. Not at all,’ ” Warring said with a chuckle.
After our story on Warring and Sims was published, readers responded with donations of food and clothing, including a Burberry trench coat. An anonymous donor gave $1,000 to Warring to cover some of Sims’ expenses.
“The reactions we received from the article were overwhelming,” said Warring. “The experience reinforced what I know to be true: That for every person in need, there is someone wanting to help.”
And now Sims’ circle of support has grown. Warring’s friends Seema Reddy and Laura Findley have also befriended him and help out with grocery shopping and doctors appointments. Findley recently spent an afternoon in the emergency room with Sims when he became dehydrated from a stomach bug. Reddy has invited him to spend the holidays with her, since Warring and Moore will be out of town for Christmas.
“My friends have helped immensely over the years,” said Warring. “They have become part of his support system.”
There is no doubt Warring and her friends have changed Sims’ life for the better. But Warring said she’s better for their relationship, too.
“What I’ve learned is that it doesn’t take any special skill or talent to make a difference. It takes a willingness to continue to show up and do it,” she said.
“That’s what we need more of, one person helping one person.”
As they decorated the tree in Sims’ apartment, he told Warring he planned to go Wal-Mart in the coming days to buy something to donate to a holiday gift drive.
“It is a gift to be able to give,” said Warring, “and Mr. Sims feels that, too.”