At the conference table at The Kewanee Voice office, Robert Ince has come prepared. With him is a pad of paper and a pen to use to try to tell his story.
Ince is 64 and was born deaf and in the coming weeks or even days, he could find himself without a home.
When asked about his prospects at finding a place to live in the short time left, his reply makes it known he is unsure. With his fist held in front of him, he extends his thumb as if tossing a coin up into the air.
Accompanying him that day was Gayle Gerard. Gerard has become deeply involved in Ince’s plight. For weeks, she has made phone calls on his behalf, taken him to the grocery store and purchased him warmer clothing, acting as the only advocate Ince has. And she is.
“I feel I have to do something,” Gerard said. “We don’t know what he’ll do if he’s homeless.”
Gerard knew Robert’s sister Bonnie, and when Bonnie passed away on Aug. 1, Gerard adopted her dog. But Bonnie’s death also meant that Robert, who had lived with his sister on North Tremont Street, would need to find someplace else to live, and Gerard found she just couldn’t walk away.
Ince is from Kewanee, but he was born to a Cambridge couple. When he was an infant, his sister, fearing for his safety at home, took Ince to school with her. Authorities were called and Ince was eventually adopted by a Kewanee couple, John Paul Ince and Lydia June Ince.
Gerard said Ince was fortunate to be raised by parents who loved him. He attended several schools for the deaf in Jacksonville and Moline until 1980.
For 50 years he lived with his parents on Mill Street and after they passed, he secured a place to live at the Lincoln House in Galva. That housing is under the management of the Housing Authority of Henry County.
But after some time, Ince said he made a poor decision that cost him his spot.
“Stupid me, I moved my girlfriend in and we fought and they threw us out,” he told Gerard using a combination of signing and vocalization.
After that, he moved in with his sister Bonnie and still lives there now, but the power and water have been turned off.
“He is squatting in her home. I am not going to deny it,” Gerard said, adding that the situation is untenable.
Recently, an altercation occurred between the property owner and Ince, who pointed to his face near his eye where he said he was struck.
“It’s been reported,” she said.
Gerard said they offered to pay rent to the landlord but he declined and insisted that Ince leave, but finding him a new place to stay has proved difficult.
She has called around to shelters and even though Ince is fluent in sign language and can read lips proficiently, shelters have told her that they aren’t equipped with the resources to take in a deaf person.
Even if she could find him a shelter in the area, Gerard worries that Ince, because he is deaf, would be vulnerable to assault and theft.
“At this point, I don’t know where he can go,” she said.
It’s not that the local housing authority isn’t sympathetic to his situation, she said. Because they are. But since he was evicted from one of their properties, there are rules on how much time must elapse before he can get back on their list.
“There are a number of people at the housing authority who are very sympathetic to his situation, but there are rules,” she said.
Gerard acts as an advocate for Ince, who she said has his detractors. But Gerard said Ince has “no vices.” He doesn’t do drugs or drink. At home he enjoys watching television and is perfectly capable of taking care of himself and living on his own.
“No one is perfect and to me, as a native Kewaneean,” it’s a shame “he can’t get in proper housing or a place of shelter,” she said.
As time ticks by, Gerard said they are more desperate to find him a home. There are homeless people now in Kewanee, she said, although she doesn’t know the number. But she said she has heard that several find respite in the foyer of city hall. They use the bathrooms there and read in the lobby and at night, they sleep in the foyer where it’s warm and safe.
It’s not a fate she wants for Ince.
“By Friday, he could very well be on the street,” she said.
She has inquired about small apartments, but he can’t afford them, she said. He can afford some rent but it will have to fit in with his budget. Once he finds a home, there are agencies that could offer him other assistance, but not until he has an address.
“I would like to see him have a small apartment with a kitchenette, “ she said. “He gets around fine. Cooks for himself. Just a little place that he could call his own.”
But they both feel as if time is running out. It’s a flip of the coin with heads he has a place to live and tails he’s on the street.
“The bottom line is this, this guy is deaf and there are a number of homeless people I wish I could help, all of them, but there aren’t enough resources for them,” she said.
For Ince’s part he communicated that he finds himself feeling bitter about his situation and his inability to find housing.
Gerard said she doesn’t want to be viewed as a hero, but instead as one fellow human being trying to help another who has nowhere else to turn. But she holds out hope of finding Ince a home, and soon.
Anyone who believes they can help Robert can reach out to Gerard by messaging her on Facebook or by emailing her at gerardg@gmail.com.
