Happy Endings and Giving Thanks

At 1:40 A.M. on Friday, November 15, former Hope Center resident Alexander Reyes was discharged from the intimate 66-bed skilled nursing facility on University Avenue in the Bronx to catch his flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport back to The Philippines. It was at Hope Center where Alexander was "reborn" following a nightmarish ordeal where he had gotten beaten by hoodlums in Jamaica, Queens, in April 2021. In a story that the Washington Heights-Inwood Patch printed on July 15 of this year, Mr. Reyes, 63, had been harshly attacked while he was on his way looking for the social security office in Jamaica, Queens. The criminals that attacked Mr. Reyes stole all of his paperwork and a large sum of money he had in his pocket to pay for everything. Following his ruthless beating, he couldn't walk and was severely injured as he was brought into Bellevue Hospital in Queens by a nurse who had noticed that he needed medical attention.

Mr. Reyes, after being discharged from the hospital, was taken to Hope Center for rehab in late September 2023. Socially, Mr. Reyes was damaged as well, and he kept to himself, hardly speaking to anyone and trying to get past what had happened to him. The rehab unit worked on him immediately; they got to know him and built trust. Slowly but surely, Alexander started to open up, but still, he had a long way to go physically, mentally, and emotionally. That was only the beginning; from there, he began to thrive. He started to walk with a cane, but he felt he needed someone there with him in the fear of falling, and that would set him back. As the days turned into weeks, things started looking up for him. As 2023 turned into 2024, rehabilitation therapists were confident that Alexander would be on the road to a successful discharge.

By the summer, Administrator Sammy Weingarten, Admissions Director Rosalyn Valoyand, and Director of Rehabilitation Krishna Pendem, started to focus on the fact that by the fall of 2024, Mr. Reyes may be able to return to the Philippines once again. As late October approached, Hope Center felt that a mid-November discharge would be realistic, so that date was set for November 15. On his final full day at Hope Center on November 14, Alexander had the chance to say goodbye to everyone who cared for him and the residents he knew.

"We help out so many people to get better and go home but Mr. Reyes' case was a special one," said Weingarten. "An innocent man who was taken advantage of was physically and psychologically attacked. It made sense that his trust in people in this country was at an all-time low. Still, the staff here treated him physically so that he could walk again, and mentally that he started living again, trusting again, and enjoying his life again."

When asked what he would do when he got home, Mr. Reyes said he would look to buy a house and visit some of his friends, but now his tearful, happy emotions got the best of him.

"Thanks to everyone, thanks to God, I'm 100 percent good!" said Alexander Reyes. "I can walk, I can run, I can do it! I'm so happy to go home!"