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UAW 1112 to donate to vet’s family
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Colleen Village talks about her husband, Mike, a Gulf War veteran who is in a coma. Colleen and her three sons are being kicked out of the home they rent. Workers at GM Lordstown will collect money at the gate during each shift on Wednesday to help the family.
By Elise Franco
Austintown
United Auto Workers Local 1112 is taking up a gate collection for Colleen Village and her family today at the General Motors Co. plant in Lordstown.
Village, whose veteran husband, Michael, was diagnosed with Gulf War Syndrome and is in a coma in The Cleveland Clinic, said she will use the money raised to first pay the debt owed to her former landlord. Today, Village has to move out of the duplex where she’s lived with her family since January.
“I owe about three months’ rent and water,” she said. “I will absolutely pay them everything. I don’t want that hanging over my head.”
Village’s former landlord declined to comment Tuesday afternoon.
Others who want to donate to the Michael Village Memorial Fund can call or stop by any Huntington Bank branch.
Village, 35, of Austintown, said her 42-year-old husband was put into an induced coma May 3. She said his condition has worsened over the course of the past two months, and doctors believe he may not wake up.
Because Village had to quit her job three years ago to care for her husband, the only income the family has is his disability and pension, totaling about $1,200 per month.
Village, who moved out of the family’s current home today and into a two-bedroom apartment, said she’ll use donations to help pay for things such as their new residence and her travels to the Cleveland Clinic, as well as for someone to watch her three sons while she is in Cleveland.
She said she’s in the process of applying for guardianship over her husband in order to receive additional benefits through Veterans Affairs.
“I contacted several VA organizations, and they told me they couldn’t do anything for me until I have guardianship over my husband,” she said.
“I applied for it, but it has to go through probate court. It could take months.”