Stories by Michael Rentiers on Medium

Public Policy Isn’t Just Written in Legislatures These Days

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 23:34:42 GMT

The days of "School House Rock's" version of the legislative process has long evolved beyond eve the smokey back rooms. Policy is now openly discussed on websites and social platforms everywhere. It's an opportunity the business largely world ignores.

Businesses have long understood the value of lobbying, coalitions, and direct engagement with policymakers. That world still exist...it still matters, but the the most powerful way to shape public policy is by harnessinb

Public policy today is shaped in two parallel arenas: inside legislative chambers and outside them, where public understanding, voter pressure, and narrative momentum are formed. Increasingly, that second arena is digital.

Political and advocacy spending tells the story clearly. Billions of dollars now flow into digital political advertising, issue advocacy campaigns, and online persuasion efforts. This isn’t accidental. Digital channels offer something traditional advocacy never could: precision, speed, and scale.

Digital advocacy allows businesses to reach specific audiences—voters, community leaders, employees, regulators’ constituents—with tailored messages about how policy proposals affect jobs, prices, innovation, and economic growth. It allows organizations to explain complexity, counter misinformation, and elevate pro-business perspectives before legislation is locked in.

Just as importantly, digital influence is measurable. Engagement, reach, sentiment, and message penetration can all be tracked and adjusted in real time. That makes digital advocacy not just powerful, but accountable.

Meanwhile, lobbying spending continues to hit record highs. That tells us something important: shaping policy is expensive, competitive, and increasingly crowded. In that environment, relying solely on behind-the-scenes influence leaves value on the table.

Public opinion still matters to policymakers. Voters still matter. And voters increasingly learn about policy online.

Businesses that invest in digital advocacy aren’t abandoning traditional influence—they’re amplifying it. They’re reinforcing their position in the places where narratives are formed, pressure is applied, and legitimacy is built.

Public policy will continue to shape markets, labor, energy, technology, and growth. The question isn’t whether businesses should engage. It’s whether they will engage where influence actually happens.

Today, that place is digital.

The Flow of Information Has Shifted. It's Time to Catch Up.

Tue, 13 Jan 2026 22:05:08 GMT

The business world is paying lip-service to the changing current while continuing to paddle upstream.

For decades, businesses understood information flow through a familiar lens: television, newspapers, maybe radio if you were feeling ambitious. That mental model is now dangerously outdated.

It can't be a surprise that the overwhelming majority of Americans get their news digitally - via phones, tablets, or laptop. Online news comes from a myriad of sources, usually a mix of websites, social platforms, and influencers from an algorithm-driven feed. For younger and mid-career adults, social media and digital news sources don’t supplement traditional media; they replace it. Television remains influential with older audiences, but even that dominance is eroding as streaming, short-form video, and mobile news reshape habits.

This matters for brand protection.

Reputational risk no longer breaks on the evening news. It breaks online, in real time, often before a journalist is even aware something is happening. Narratives form quickly, spread faster, and harden long before a press release can catch up. If your organization is not actively participating in the online information ecosystem—monitoring it, shaping it, correcting it—then others are doing that work for you.

And they may not be friendly.

Digital platforms are not just distribution channels; they are arenas of influence. Search results, social feeds, comment sections, and shared articles collectively determine what stakeholders believe about your brand. Silence is no longer neutral. It’s a vacuum.

The smartest organizations have already adjusted. They think of digital communication as a form of infrastructure—something that must be maintained, stress-tested, and strategically designed long before a crisis hits. They invest in online presence not because it’s trendy, but because it’s where public understanding is formed.

TV and print still matter. But they are no longer the center of gravity.

If your brand protection strategy still assumes that influence flows top-down from traditional media, you are defending yesterday’s battlefield. The conversation has moved online. That’s where credibility is built, challenged, and either protected—or lost.

Business History: Studying Mistakes That Will Be Made Again

Fri, 05 Dec 2025 22:34:55 GMT

Despite costing the business world billions annually, we still refuse to proactively invest in public relations.

We all know the drill. If it doesn’t sell a widget tomorrow or produce a neat little ROI chart, it gets pushed off the budget. But that logic fell apart years ago. E-commerce reshaped entire industries in the early 2000s, social media helped elect a president in 2008, and by 2017 digital ad spend blew past TV. Yet somehow, in 2025, businesses still act stunned when bad PR eats into their bottom line. The numbers aren’t hiding. They’re flashing sirens.

Reputation has become one of the most valuable, and fragile, assets a company owns. Still, too many leaders treat it like an afterthought, scrambling only when a crisis detonates. Hope isn’t a strategy. Pretending not to see a problem won’t keep it from hitting the balance sheet. Reputational damage *always* becomes financial damage, usually on a scale no one expects.

A review of more than 300 corporate crises across 27 stock exchanges found an average 35% drop in share price immediately after a major crisis. Earnings per share fall more than 68%. Recovery takes about 425 days—if it happens at all.

Private companies aren’t spared. Nearly 20% of leaders navigating reputational issues reported losses over $500,000, and another 18% reported losses between $100,000 and $500,000. And those numbers barely scratch the surface. Lost contracts, churn, hiring challenges, and the marketing bills required to rebuild trust multiply the damage long after the headlines move on.

Some crises are even costlier. Cyber incidents alone carry steep reputational and regulatory fallout. Large enterprises spend around $200,000 on brand repair per breach; small businesses average about $8,000, which can gut a tight-margin operation. And social-media-driven crises routinely climb into the millions when customer behavior shifts overnight.

The pattern couldn’t be clearer: unprepared companies pay more. Organizations with strong reputational foundations and real crisis-communication plans recover faster, retain more trust, and avoid the financial free fall that comes from scrambling in the dark. Transparency, speed, and smart messaging shape public perception. Hesitation always makes things worse.

This is why reputation management and crisis planning must be treated as core business functions. The investment is modest; the cost of inaction is staggering. Clear communication frameworks, scenario planning, social listening, media training, and defined response protocols can save companies millions—and build the goodwill that softens future blows.

Today’s landscape offers no hiding spots. Expectations are high, memories are long, and visibility is total. Companies that prepare will ride out turbulence. Companies that don’t will learn, the hard way, what a damaged reputation truly costs.

A crisis may be unpredictable. Ignoring it is not.

What I’ve Been Up To & What’s Next

Thu, 04 Dec 2025 20:32:06 GMT

There are times in life when you have to decide if you’re going to watch life happen around you or have a say in how it plays out.

The last few years have taken me down a path I never expected. During the early days of COVID, when the world felt suspended and my professional work slowed, I found myself working out of a small café in Columbia, SC. One afternoon, a homeless man approached and asked me for money to buy lunch. Instead, I invited him to sit with me.

Over sandwiches, he shared his story. He was a Vietnam veteran whose life had unraveled in ways that were gut wrenching to hear and, as I would learn, far too common. I went home and dug into the facts about veteran homelessness. The statistics were jarring, and now they had a face and a name, Daniel. His story stuck with me. I’ve never been one to sit idly by, stepping up never scared me. But what could I possibly do?

The answer was simple. Do something. Do anything. Afterall, what have those guys done for me? More than I could ever repay. I kept hearing the same words echo in my mind: If I am only for myself, who am I? If not now, when?

I had done PR work for veteran causes before, but this time professional experience didn’t feel like enough. I felt compelled to act personally. So I began spending time on the streets around Columbia, building relationships with the men who had served our country only to have our country fail them.

That led to the creation of Without Heroes, a nonprofit dedicated to working directly with homeless veterans one relationship at a time. My theory was simple: transformation begins with consistency and trust. The plan was to intervene in their lives individually to provide the support they need to reach stability. Even if I could only impact one life at a time, that was still meaningful change.

Time has passed quickly. The work has been challenging, profound, and humbling. It changed how I see people. It changed how I see service. And it changed how I see the responsibility that comes with having skills that can make an impact.

However, I’m returning to my professional world with renewed purpose through my new communications firm, CTA Communications. It’s named after my experience, a Call To Action. I’m bringing back everything I’ve learned…about people, about storytelling, about advocacy, and about what it means to respond when the moment calls.

Without Heroes will go on. There is so much work to be done, but it’s time for the next chapter and a return to doing what I love. If you’re interested in getting together, get in touch!

Dirtiest Word in Politics: Compromise

Sat, 09 Aug 2025 20:37:00 GMT

How many of you are politically engaged and have bad-mouthed a politician in your party for being open to compromise?

I know there are many of you; it’s become almost a litmus test in primary elections.

I’ll give you the punchline upfront because this isn’t a setup. I’d like you to learn rather than beat you up about it because you’re flat-out part of the problem. You are contributing to the downfall of the most ingenious system of government ever to be established.

I am not only wagging my finger at the right. The two parties are mirror images of one another regarding destructive behavior. There exists within both parties — thus the American people — a thread of willful ignorance that partisans wield like a weapon against rational thought.

Right now, fewer and fewer people, regardless of age, have even a basic understanding of how our system of government works, nor are they familiar with the rationale of the people who created it. Without the basic understanding, there is no shock that our current actions are snapping the bonds that connect us.

I’ll spare you the deep dive into democratic republicanism. (Even the name combines the two parties.) I will instead point you to the founders themselves. If you look at the documents, they produced. At the letters they wrote to one another, speeches they gave, you’d understand one thing — there was never a unified sentiment, and that meant they would never allow a tyranny of the majority. Jefferson was an uncompromising zealot. Yet he penned the world’s two most well-known compromises.

Even our government is a glaring recognition of compromise. Federalism consists of two competing systems of government — compromise was and will always be the lifeblood of our Democracy.

Why do we have a proportional House but an equally distributed Senate? Why a strong national and state government? Even our political parties served as coalition builders where factions disagreed but came together in compromise to form a governing majority.

A compromise was never the end of a politician till now. This trend of shunning a politician for compromising has become a destructive force wielded by those craven for power and the stupid who don’t know or care.

President Reagan was outspoken on compromise. From his autobiography, “An American Life” (Simon & Schuster, 1990), Reagan wrote about his time as Governor of California.

Oh, how we could use that kind of leadership today.

I’ll leave you with one of the most glaring examples that compromise is in the fabric of our government. I invite you to read our most sacred document — The Declaration of Independence. It is a document so powerful it held thirteen independent states together, established this nation, and almost tore us apart as we finally ended the barbaric idea that one man could own another in the Civil War.

Yet, that same document is an oddly cobbled together compromise. Our framers fought over just what this was supposed to be and how it should be written. Some states felt a deep loyalty to the Crown, while others engaged in a counter-insurgency against British troops. They all worried about how hard to push the King. They were wise to be cautious. They could not just undermine the idea of the monarchy. On the one hand, their King refused to listen. But to win independence, they would need recognition and help from other monarchs.

If you have never read the Declaration, I beg you to take a moment and do so. As esoteric as I sound, it is the very reason you and I do not live in fear of persecution, hunger, or war on our soil. Not all are so lucky — today, now, the majority of the world’s population still lives under constant threat of death from oppression, starvation, curable disease, and wars with no cause.

Maybe you can take a moment?

You might not see it on the first pass, but it is a jumble of revolutionary statements mixed with legal arguments, some hedging of bets, and gnashing of teeth. We all know the preamble that lays out man’s inalienable rights in a brilliant revolutionary statement. It just as forcefully becomes a technocratic legal argument right after. At times it is almost apologetic to the Crown. I hope you read the damn thing.

We could continue for hours on making the constitution and compromise, but the point is made, and the dead horse, freshly whipped.

To all partisans who attack one other with childish name-calling. To those who think a purity test for primary candidates is healthy. And to those who cannot fathom that a Republican from the midwest differs from one in the South or a Democrat in the South differs from those in New England — America’s founding fathers, as well as every great President that as ever served, would like for you to shut the f*ck up and stop ruining everything.

Peace.

If you want to know more about why our systems depend on compromise or how the framers use our worst instincts to create a stabilizing tension in the design, please ask, and let’s discuss it. We are losing so much institutional knowledge, and it’s because those who control the education system are removing it. I am serious when I say that academia in the US is actively subverting the country, which could be outright treason. There is only one reason they have stopped teaching the foundational principles of the USA, and that’s because the only way it fails is from within. These extremists cannot win at the ballot box, so they subvert children’s minds — a long story for another day soon.

Where have all the conservatives gone?

Fri, 01 Aug 2025 03:42:00 GMT

Where have the conservatives gone

For a long time, conservatism and the GOP have been branching apart. In a generation, scientists won’t be able to tell that we ever shared a family tree.

Hello, my name is Michael, and I am a conservative.

But, where are the others? There have to be plenty of us who share an ideology. I can’t be alone. I think differently, but not that different. My background is atypical for a conservative, but that does not account for anything. I developed a rebellious, nonconformist worldview — but that is the heart of conservatism.

This article was to be a brief introduction to my political ideology. When I couldn’t name many contemporary conservative voices to reference, this morphed into a juxtaposition piece between conservatism and the theatre of the absurd portrayed on TV and embodied by the loudest voices in the Trump movement.

So, start again, shall we?

Hello, my name is Michael, and I am a conservative.

When you read that sentence, I bet your mind conjured up a caricature of me. It has nothing to do with who I am, but the media has reduced us to political cartoons with exaggerated features. You hear Conservative or Liberal and think of a person who is nothing like you and has nothing to offer but wrong opinions. Almost non-human.

I have nothing in common with the politics we see in the news or online. It’s the Upside-Down from the series Stranger Things. In reality, it’s all a show designed to turn the news into a commodity ($$$). It is lock, stock, and barrel the political WWE. Those putting on the show are in on it, and the politicians (performers) are in on it. The talking heads and everyone else are all in on it. You know it’s true.

My ideology has no relation to daily news or even Republicanism. Call it Trumpism. In fact, both parties have cut moorings with objective truth completely. They don’t care about the rule of law — it’s enforcing a worldview centered on power. Those with power know making tough decisions and solving problems make it harder to hold onto said power. So they use wedge issues to divide us and make us angry, and that makes us stupid and easy to manipulate

Modern politics runs on craven hunger for power. The ends always justify the means — ignoring the Constitution or storming the US capitol — all excusable in pursuing power. Helluva a day’s work, if you can get it, Chief.

And why stop when it’s working? If I was a soulless demon, I wouldn’t. We must stop being manipulated. You have to speak out. Remember, the news is an entertainment commodity, and you are a consumer. Until they hear you, the show goes on.

So what is conservatism to me? I believe in preserving the philosophy of the Revolution. Conservatism was established with the Declaration of Independence. It was made real in the Constitution. Our hymnal is the gospel of the Federalist Papers.

We get criticized for hating change, and it’s a valid criticism. It is easy to just say no, but you have to find a way to say yes sometimes to govern. Change must be constitutional, not half-cocked proposals fueled on outrage and loaded with pork, but change is not bad.

I read what the Framers read, what they wrote, and what they studied to form my worldview. I read the State of Nature, discussions on the social contract, and ideas like the consent of the governed. I read french democratic philosophers like Voltaire. Reading Wealth of Nations, I understood the rationale for capitalism and its pitfalls. Finally, I believe the Federalist Papers are a seminal read for all Americans.

I believe our nation is unique. Instead of consolidating power, as almost all revolutions do, the Framers divested control quickly. They created a system of equilibrium and equality of opportunity (slavery will always be our original sin and we must not be afraid to discuss it rationally because it’s legacy is still with us). The brilliance lies in the design being underpinned by an understanding of human nature.

Unlike the bloody foolishness of Marxism, which assumes that all men are angels, the American way pits our worst instincts against itself. As a defense-in-depth, a divided government creates layers of checks and balances. Federalism, bicameralism, and the Bill of Rights established tension. That tension created balance and fairness. If my rights are interdependent on your rights, there’s a mutual interest in the status quo. Add a melting pot culture, and we have a flexible but sturdy system.

We’re a bunch of selfish bastards, but if you mess with one, you get us all. I liked that when we used to believe it.

So what’s cracking the system now? What has changed?

John Adams sums it up:

Adams also said:

Adams articulates a universal truth — Mankind is not evolved enough to live in a completely free society. Society would crumble with no moral compass or ethical guideline to check our worst instincts. However, we cannot govern through faith and emotion. As Jedi say in Star Wars, emotion leads to the dark side. Remember, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Collective morality and ethics are necessary checks against the state of nature. Without it, the state must step in as God. No more sin, but everything is illegal and punishable by death. No one wants that.

At the end of the day, conservatism isn’t easy. Without intellect and discipline, it can be dangerous. It requires we hold opposite but not opposing views at the same time. For example, I believe in delayed gratification and acting selflessly, but I am also selfish. I am independent but willing to serve. I resist government control, but I will do my duty to sacrifice if required by my nation.

I believe that a high-performing, limited government, coupled with a strong culture that guides the behavior of the collective, is the best way.

Man is always the weak link in any system. When our system fails us, it is we who fail the system.

Am I Racist?

Tue, 24 Sep 2024 04:33:00 GMT

Not a movie review on the hit documentary by “The Daily Wire” — this is my commentary on being southern, the Confederate flag, & anti-racism in a changing south.

Scene setting: In the movie, Matt Walsh heads to the American South to hear what regular folks think of the latest brand of race-obsessed psychobabble infecting our nation. Honestly, the language does feel more Orwellian than NewSpeak itself, and the reactions from ‘rednecks’ are priceless. The takeaway? Southerners, even those who fly the Confederate flag, are less racist than the grifters and hustlers using race to make money and undermine the common bonds of the citizenry. I agree, but this represents a good moment to flesh out the nuance around racism and the flag from my own experience.

I was born and raised in Charleston, SC — where the Civil War kicked off a few years prior. I have an ancestor who fought for the Confederacy. Growing up, I was immersed in Civil War culture — metal detecting for artifacts at Fort Moultrie, friends’ parents who were reenactors, and seeing real uniforms, muskets, and flags hanging in their homes. I even dressed up as Saint General Robert E. Lee for a book report in elementary school. I hold a degree in History from the University of South Carolina, where I spent a lot of time in the Southern Studies Department. I love history, and I continue that passion by reading about all sorts of American-centered subjects, most recently about the Black cowboys of America.

When I was growing up — immersed in this “heritage”— I was never exposed to hate or racism (though people did get salty about Yankees and carpetbaggers). I can’t remember ever hearing the N-word from anyone (maybe a kid on the playground, but that was rare). What I learned was that this was our ancestry, and people held onto nostalgia for it. They defended it with arguments about states’ rights, economic terrorism by the northern states on agriculture, congressional domination by the North, and so on. These people would never teach their kids that Black folks were anything but equal. They would never act with racism in their daily lives. What I came to understand about the war was — we didn’t talk about it. The one thing at the center of it all — slavery — just wasn’t mentioned. Outside of books and movies, it was never part of the conversation. This would come to haunt the heritage movement.

I never heard hate growing up and always saw every American as my brother or sister— but for as much as I knew about the war, I knew little about slavery. So I grew up conflicted: I felt pride in my rebel lineage, yet I loved the Constitution and this nation. I was also deeply unsettled by the obfuscation and lack of clarity around slavery, which I certainly abhorred. That couldn’t coexist. As I got older, I started to dig more into the South’s history (the Civil War was inevitable from the moment the Constitution was signed). I studied Lincoln’s assassination, Reconstruction under Johnson and Grant, and the rise of the KKK - all the way to the Civil Rights Movement. I was sure that I wasn’t raised around racists — what we felt was indeed heritage, but that was a heavily romanticized version of history. Additionally, I was also very aware that Black folks felt, with every bit of their soul, that this same history embodied pure evil. And they have one hell of a case.

When that punk shot up Mother Emanuel AME Church in my hometown, I could no longer ignore the conflict — I had to resolve this in a way I could live with and speak about without regret.

The act was so heinous, and the pain so visceral for southern Blacks, that it was easy for me to decide that the “heritage” movement needed to check their empathy and give way — the argument was lost. Why? As I watched people argue for the flag to remain at the state house, it was clear this wasn’t a righteous fight. Why wasn’t there a movement this passionate taking on the KKK or neo-Nazi groups who adopted the flag? Let me be clear: the heritage side is not cut from the same cloth as the KKK (no pun intended) — not even close — but they missed the real fight. The heritage movement, pure of heart as they may be, should have been fighting these hate groups long before a piece-of-shit gunman, under a Confederate banner, walked into a House of God and shed innocent blood. That fight never happened. After that massacre, it was too late. Time to take the L and let it go.

So, while it may seem like opposing beliefs — seeing the Confederacy through a heritage lens and being anti-racist — can coexist. But the flag, while not a scarlet letter “ R” for anyone flying it, is no longer a symbol anyone needs to honor their ancestry. It’s been defined by hate groups for over a hundred years without a challenge. You lose all the fights you don’t lace up for (to torture Michael Scott torturing Wayne Gretzky), and groups like the Sons of Confederate Veterans, et al., never put their gloves on to fight the real fight over the flag.

If Black Americans genuinely say they feel hated or lesser than when they see that flag, who are we to deny that and not ease their pain by leaving it in the history books? After all, Saint General Robert E. Lee (I’d still dress up as him) called for no monuments, no memorials to the Lost Cause. He considered the question forever settled — E Pluribus Unum.

Remembering My Friend, Greg Foster

Mon, 08 May 2023 03:33:00 GMT

For roughly twenty years, Greg Foster was my colleague. He was my friend. I mourn his death, but more importantly, I am here to write about his life.

I write to cut through the frustration, confusion — and anger — that I and so many must be feeling. I write because I know that, in time, our feelings will fade. I write because I know that so to will Greg’s memory. I write because I know that by enshrining those memories of him that he will continue to live in this mortal world. I write because I know the only truly dead are those who have been forgotten.

This historical maxim comforts me: All good men must die, but death cannot kill their names. As long as we live, they live. How can those close to us not be a part of us? Are we not changed? Have shared experiences not created an unbreakable bond? As long as we remember, they are not gone.

I am not here as Greg’s closest friend. I have met so many wonderful people through Greg who must be suffering far more than I am. I only hope to provide comfort through my memories of him and, perhaps, to encourage others to do the same.

I met Greg professionally. We both worked in South Carolina politics. I am a few years older, but we were all eager to get into the game. To do our part to make the world better. Greg going to work for the Speaker of the House is a feather in his cap to how talented he was. Greg did not just have a seat in the room; he was a trusted advisor and often the face of one of the most powerful offices in the state. That is rarified air, indeed.

When he left the Speaker’s Office to hang his shingle, I saw an opportunity to tap into his abilities. While I was focused on digital communications for various verticals, our company partnered with Greg to handle some vital legacy clients needing traditional PR services. He always delivered on the client’s objectives, no matter how challenging or tight the deadline was. A year or so later, we brought him in-house as an executive to lead our strategic communications. After 9 years, it was time for me to make a change and leave the agency. Greg would make a move about a year later. But that is not the full story of my memories of Greg. That’s just scratching the surface.

Many great memories flood me as I look at pictures of us throughout the years. Alas, men are not great at taking photos for every occasion, and I am left with far too few images for years of great memories. Each picture at the Carolina Cup represents many years of setting up the elaborate tailgates planned by the ladies, betting on horses, and sharing life stories. Greg and his pants. I am not even sure what to call those colorful things, but he may be the only man I know who could rock them so well. There are many other hunting trips for upland birds or tasty deer for each hunting picture. I have memories of friends stalking the field and trying to outshoot one another. It was an embrace of God’s creation.

Most egregiously, there are no pictures of my favorite memories with Greg. One would be when Greg taught me about scuba diving for Megalodon fossils and other historical artifacts. It’s highly technical and potentially dangerous diving in the black, rushing waters of the Cooper and Ashley Rivers. To find the reward of civil war artifacts, native American arrowheads, or the grand prize of an ancient shark’s tooth as big as a man’s hand was an experience like no other. With boats whizzing overhead, the current trying to drag us away, we drove steaks into the floor and pressed our faces into the river bed to see an inch through the black water. We didn’t talk about alligators because the thought would drive you crazy.

I don’t know how many full-sized teeth Greg has in his collection, but I have a few because of him. I also wear a fossilized tooth of a great white around my neck from that first trip. It has reminded me to live life to the fullest, and now it will take on a special memory of Greg. It is backed with a silver engraving of the dive trip where I found it. I intend to add his name to the engraving.

The other memory that no picture could do justice is of our many poker nights. Greg always had a professional poker setup. It was like Vegas coming to town. With a wry grin, he would break out the chips. While shuffling the deck with the practice of a street magician about to steal your watch, he would let everyone know he intended to empty our pockets. He often succeeded. Over bourbon and cigars, money traded hands, stories were told and retold, and life was good.

They say that men live lives of quiet desperation — that we often suffer in silence because, as leaders and protectors, we do not wish to be a burden on others. As we age, our friendships get fewer, and contact becomes less. Men are often left feeling like they have no one to confide in. We believe we are becoming a burden. I believe that purpose can be born of tragedy, and I hope any man reading this understands that you are not alone. There is always someone in your life who would leap into action if you reach out. Friends can go long periods without communicating, but the bond of friendship remains strong.

Many of you, like myself, have wondered what they could have done, what if this, or why not that? It serves no one to dwell on the multi-verse of possibilities that cannot come to pass. The only productive thing to do is to remember, out loud, the good man and great friend that Greg Foster was and to be ever-vigilant in showing love and kindness to those around us.

I pray for your peace, my friend. Until the day I see you again.

Homeless Warrior: Surviving the Street with A Vietnam Vet

Sat, 11 Jun 2022 20:41:00 GMT

Every day you can spot multiple homeless Vietnam Veterans, but we choose to not see them. Many just need a lift out of the hole. Been there, so this is what I do.

I have a story for you — one I never expected to tell. But I need your help. Not for me, but for someone who truly deserves a hand.

I’ll start with context by confession. I regularly work with homeless men — especially veterans — to find stability and plan for the future. Been at it all my adult life. I find working with individuals increases the likelihood of lasting change. I have never shared that before, but now you know how we got here.

Welcome to “The circus that never ends.”

It’s a story about Daniel Owens — one of too many homeless Vietnam Veterans that are stuck on the streets.

I try to be strategic when getting involved. You need to be able to commit and not waver. I wasn’t ready to help anyone when we met. I’m too busy growing my business. But Daniel radiates personality, he’s a Vietnam Veteran, and when I saw him, he was shrouded by death. I could not let a war veteran die on the street without honor. No Vet should end up in a pauper’s grave.

We discussed his declining health and death. After some tough but honest conversation, he asked if I would help him to the end. Daniel’s medical prognosis is unclear, because indigent healthcare is akin to putting out little fires until a big one kills you. I know he has cancer, among other significant issues, but no prognosis. Sensing time was short, I gave him my word. I would help him from that day until the last day.

It wasn’t always gloomy. We had fun lunches together. I enjoyed handing out copies of a US Supreme Court ruling that the homeless cannot be criminally punished for sleeping on public propert y. The police are targeting them pretty bad. Despite all my worrying, my steady presence seemed comforting. Thank God for a poker face.

Then one day, he was gone, and I expected the worst. He eventually appeared again after a stint at a hospital. I was reading his discharge papers when reality began to set in. Besides stabilizing him using his intake form, they did nothing. No tests and no referrals. Hell, they hassled him for taking a bed.

Then I saw his prescriptions. They had given Daniel a fist full of life-improving medications…for someone with $600 a month. The hospital staff never bothered to discuss the drugs they proscribed — not the interactions of these heavy drugs, nor that these (life-saving) drugs can be heavily discounted.

They didn’t expect Daniel to fill them. Actually, they just did not care.

In time, I got the drugs discounted to about $80. (Walmart should be applauded for their deep discount list — like seriously) And on the way to the pharmacy I began matching the ‘scripts to his ailments. I suspected change was coming with the help of a little modern chemistry.

Except no one bothered to authorize the ‘scripts. They never intended for him to get this far. Daniel was defeated. I was wrapping duct tape around my head to prevent an explosion.

I could hear the organ grinder starting up with that loopy circus tune. Welcome to the circus that never ends. Live, die, whatever — you have no money to spend.

Clowns might swap a big nose for a nurse’s scrubs or the cubicle fashion of a bureaucrat — clowns they remain.

It dawned on me that Death might be stalking him because those tasked with helping — wouldn’t. Well, I can’t be half-pregnant, so we returned the next day and finally got some drugs.

Now, I am only an amateur psychoanalyst and armchair brain surgeon enthusiast, but it was clear he couldn’t start these meds on the street. They were heavy duty. Thankfully, a couple of church-affiliated people had reserved a hotel room for a couple days. They had done this separate from our quixotic adventure, but their timing was a miracle.

When I saw Daniel again after a few days, he was a new man. His friends bought him some clothes, and I could tell the meds had changed the game. But when your in the circus, with every success reveals another set of problems. Stabilizing Daniel’s short-term health would have been impossible if he was alone, but with help it was easy. Yet he was still dangerously exposed. This was way bigger than what I signed on for and the circus was just getting started.

On cue, temperatures hit 95 and then 102 degrees in the following days — early June. The summer is going to be a killer — quite literally. And as I bring this story to the present — we continue to have days at 103 degrees that feel like 115.

He’s had to be taken to the emergency room t̶w̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶r̶e̶e̶…four more times due to the weather. I have bargained with and even threatened restaurant managers to not throw him out in the heat. (I can buy one thing and work all day, but he gets tossed after an hour) The few people actively helping Daniel are doing all they can.

We tried to apply for various assistance programs. Everything is a roadblock for the homeless. It might as well be Mt Everest when people treat him like a nuisance. But when I walk in the door with my happy face on, all of a sudden people remember how to do their job. Still, at every step, he needed paperwork for this or a permanent address for that. Happen to have your tax returns on you, Daniel? How else are you gonna prove how poor are?

I was dropping Daniel off one night and feeling grim. I made a cynical joke about needing more friends. He responded by informing me that he had a friend back in his hometown who was willing to help him if he could get to Maine. The homeless often live minute-to-minute; not really thinking about financial projections. Daniel said he couldn’t ask me for that much money. Laughingly I informed him that his tiny band of fans and I would be investing far more to keep him here week-to-week. Staring at a record-setting summer — it was a no-brainer.

And there it was. Understand, in that moment I was facing the reality of failing my word and failing Daniel. Things were very dark— and then God delivered a Hail Mary. I had a plan.

In short order, we confirmed that his friend is willing and able to assist him. We have already contacted the VA hospital, and they set him up with a private general practitioner to manage his various health issues. He will be seen immediately upon his arrival. Once he has his VA paperwork, getting all the available benefits will be a breeze. It’s just a different dimension up there.

In Maine, he has a real shot at living. There is no doubt about it — we have to get him on a bus ASAP.

Our last hurdle is cost. I know we are close to tapped out between myself and a couple others. Everything costs money, feels like a crisis, and is well-timed for maximum pain. From food and weather to prescriptions and a broken cell phone — the people involved have done so much. Time after time, someone stepped in the gap just once more.

But the clock on Daniel’s health is ticking. So I’m asking….

WILL YOU HELP WRITE A HAPPY ENDING TO THIS STORY? WE’VE MADE IT EASY JUST CHECK OUT THE DETAILS BELOW.

Words fail in these situations. I cannot relate the emotional stress and feeling of helplessness these guys experience. For the last couple of months I have experienced that same rollercoaster. Working with the homeless has a lot of bad endings. But not this time. We as a citizenry really have failed the Vietnam generation. I see the guilt they carry and its unreal. But right now we have a chance to do some real good and have a positive impact.

For those who know me, I wouldn’t be making this request if I wasn’t fully committed. I just can’t do it alone. I am here on bended knee on his behalf. Every donation goes to saving a good man, a war veteran, and someone who’s earned a helping hand.

A small donation to save a life. Simple math.

Disclaimer: Working with the homeless is hard. After years of neglect, problems are complex, including potential addictions that could make them dangerous. You could get hurt or hurt others. Remember, a drowning man will drown you too and they won’t even know it happened. If you want to get involved, it’s best to contact a non-profit or shoot me an email.