After decades of helping others, Streamwood veteran gets the help he needs
Fred Hossfeld has spent a lot of time and energy helping veterans get the help they need and the recognition they deserve.
The 83-year-old Korean War veteran from Streamwood has organized concerts to benefit veterans' causes, led care-package drives for soldiers serving overseas, and assisted local veterans in times of need, even if it meant he wasn't taking the best care of himself.
After more than 50 years of helping other veterans, Hossfeld found himself the one needing a hand this year.
After the death of his wife, Janie, two years ago, Hossfeld began a downward spiral that left him and his home in a bad state.
So when volunteers from religious communities in Inverness and Hoffman Estates asked Phil Jelen, service officer at VFW Post 5151 in Streamwood, if he knew any local veterans they could help, he knew where to send them.
“I told her there's a fellow here who lost his wife and is in a state of depression,” Jelen said.
By then, Hossfeld's two-bedroom apartment was a “hoarder's paradise,” said Janet Hauter, a parishioner at Holy Family Parish in Inverness who started a faith-in-action service initiative group called The Pentecost Projects this summer.
Hauter's phone call led her and fellow volunteers from Holy Family and Beth Tikvah Congregation synagogue in Hoffman Estates to Hossfeld's home.
When the volunteers arrived June 30, they found boxes and bins full of items throughout the apartment, including a large collection of VHS tapes and more than 500 books standing in stacks. Nearly every horizontal surface - including the kitchen counter, a few desks and several bookshelves, as well as the couches and chairs - was covered by clutter. Objects took up most of the floor space, leaving narrow paths with which to traverse the apartment.
“You couldn't move through here,” said Ilene Kettering, president of Beth Tikvah Congregation. “You can't imagine the smell and the dirt. ... We said if we are going to be in there for weeks, we better get our shots.”
Howard Washer, another volunteer from Beth Tikvah, said he'd never seen anything like it. “I thought maybe we'd bitten off more than we can chew,” he said. “But we all sat down and took a deep breath and said, 'Let's see if we can do this.'”
Hauter opened her family's South Barrington home to Hossfeld and his dog, Princess, and she and other volunteers got to work.
They began by clearing out the possessions and sorting them between things to be thrown out, things to be donated, things to be sold and things that Hossfeld would keep.
Hossfeld said it was a little shocking when the volunteers told him they'd be getting rid of so many of his possessions, but he ultimately agreed to it.
Many of the books, he said, came from the Wilmette store that his wife used to own called Janie's Bookstore.
“They are doing the right thing,” Hossfeld said.
During their first few days at the apartment, the volunteers filled a dumpster with things that could not be reused. Hauter said they were able to find homes for a good portion of the items, including Hossfeld's books on old Hollywood stars, which were sent to retirement homes.
With Hossfeld's permission, they also sold some of his possessions and gave him the money. Many of the books were sent to a company in Evanston that buys books by the pound, and some of the furniture went to antiques dealers.
After removing the vast majority of items, they got to work cleaning the apartment. The carpet was removed and replaced, the walls were scrubbed and painted, and everything else got a deep clean. They then brought in new furniture, including a new bed and couch.
While the work was being done, the volunteers asked Hossfeld to stay away so they could give him a big surprise when it was finally done.
On Saturday, Hossfeld got the first glimpse at his new and improved home.
“Oh my God,” said Hossfeld, wearing a stunned expression as he went from room to room Saturday, seeing them as if for the first time. “It looks like a brand new apartment.”