Father, son in a battle to stay off the street, but here they are, homeless again

Earl Toothaker, left, and his son, Russell, as they prepare to pack their beloning on Friday morning. (Rochester Voice photo)

ROCHESTER - Today Earl Toothaker and his son will step out of the Greenwood Inn and begin a five-day sojourn on the streets of Rochester.
The two were living on Silver Street in Somersworth until late April when Toothaker discovered a water leak in their apartment's bathroom.
"I notified the landlord, and they told me don't do anything for three months," he said.
A few days later Toothaker called the city's code enforcement officer in an effort to get the leak fixed, which he thinks led to his eviction on May 15.
"That's when I decided to move back to Rochester, since that's where we used to live," he said.
The two lived on the streets of Rochester for about a month, often sleeping overnight in COAST bus stop kiosks.
He said Rochester Welfare Chief Todd Marsh was "advocating for us," but since his last domicile was Somersworth it was their responsibility to fund any housing benefits, which they ultimately did, he said.
When they first landed a room at the Greenwood Inn, Somersworth would pay two weeks then he would pay two weeks using his and his son's disability checks, which amount to about $2,100 a month.
He said all in all, Somersworth paid for about a month, but that suddenly changed this past week when he was told by Somersworth welfare officials he would have to pay $640.15 for three weeks and then Somersworth would pay the fourth week.
"That's over $1,900," he said, which means they would only have about $200 left for miscellaneous expenses. "We just can't do it. The numbers don't add up."
Toothaker, who has suffered several strokes and now requires a mobility scooter, said he'd been trying for a month to find housing, but to no avail. He said he is on a wait list with several housing agencies, including the Rochester Housing Authority.
He said Cross Roads House in Portsmouth had space but wouldn't let his son stay there because he is too heavy, about 500 pounds, his dad said.
"Some outfit was willing to build him a special bed to carry his weight, but it never happened."
The Toothakers were supposed to be out by 11 a.m. on Friday, but around 10:30 a.m., just as The Rochester Voice was interviewing the father and son, the Greenwood Inn manager told us Somersworth welfare had found some money to pay for one more night.
Once they leave today they said one of Russell's friends will drive them to a storage unit where they will store what belongings they have before beginning their five nights with no roof over their head.
He said during the time they will take advantage of SOS Recovery, which provides them a place to cook and eat their meals and take a nap during the day.
Neither Marsh nor Louise Oliver of Somersworth Welfare returned a call to The Rochester Voice on Friday.
Around 9 a.m. today Toothaker called The Voice to let us know they had already left the Greenwood Inn and were down at SOS in Dover, because the Rochester office is not open on Saturdays.

To donate to a fund to help support the Toothakers click here.