Dear Hoboken:
I have never written a letter to a town before, let alone one to Hoboken, but here I go. I feel that maybe someone could help me if I do.
What has prompted me to write is the fact that I was robbed and assaulted near my home on an early evening (7 p.m.). I was knocked around and punched in the face before I was thrown into a pile of snow. I am a senior citizen living in Applied Housing. I do volunteer work for St. Mary Hospital both at the Thrift Shop and the Hospital Gift Shop. In fact I was returning from this volunteer work when I was attacked. I also am a member of the St. Francis Rosary Society and the Lion’s Club. I am a widow with no immediate family around. My husband and I have made Hoboken our home for many years now. He has died after suffering for so long, and I am alone.
My injuries go beyond the physical and continue to cause me great mental stress and fear. I am now a prisoner in my home. I am afraid to go out during the day and never go out after 4 p.m. each day. I am a widow with no immediate family. I wonder if you can imagine what it is like to be so afraid. I know you could think of your own mothers who themselves are widows and think of them being attacked and so vulnerable; but then they have the love and support of family nearby to assist them. I have no one. Most of the friends I have in Hoboken live in the senior citizen building on Bloomfield and First Streets. I use the local taxi services but the expense is too much for me and cuts into my already limited food budget. At least at the hospital and Thrift Shop we were given one complimentary meal for our services. Now I can’t avail myself of that because I am afraid of going out.
I called Applied Housing after the attack but they were unable to assist me. I called the Senior Citizen office at Bloomfield and First but was told to watch the papers for a date. They suggest I get there no later than 5 a.m. if I want to be among the first on line. They have no idea when this event will take place. The Senior Citizen down on Adams is just a few blocks from where I live and where I was attacked. If I moved there I would still be a prisoner.
I do not mean to sound bitter but I am sure they have emergency lists, and I am an emergency. I have lived, worked and buried my husband from this town. I belong to the Lion’s Club, The St. Francis Rosary Society and St. Mary Hospital Volunteers. I am part of this town. I need its help to survive.
I need your help as well. You, the people of this town, must care or Hoboken is not the great town I have come to know and love. I know you have suffered in your lives, and to those who have suffered, I now ask for help because I too am suffering. I have written to those I thought could and would help, the Mayor among them, but I have not heard anything.
If I was able to get into the Senior Citizen Center on Bloomfield and First Streets it would be safer for me. I could use the public bus system. And I would have the support of the friends I know and those I would make there.
I do not know how to drive a car so moving west to a senior citizen building wouldn’t help me. I want to be close to the PATH or the buses so I can get around. I look forward to being able to join other people downstairs in the lobby in the evening or celebrate special occasions together. It would be like having a family for me.
Please contact me through this paper. Thank you.
A friend in need