By Neil Offen

noffen@heraldsun.com; 419-6646

DURHAM -- The elderly man didn't have any money, any papers, a home. He had no family and few memories. He was suffering from dementia, and he didn't have language either -- he couldn't speak English.

But thanks to the work of a dedicated social worker and the collaborative efforts of more than a dozen different local agencies, the man has been reunited with his family -- after more than 30 years -- and is now comfortably ensconced in a local assisted living facility.

The name of the man is being withheld at the request of his family.

"It was kind of like all the puzzle pieces coming together, all of the stars just aligning," said Stephanie Triantafillou, the program coordinator for LATCH -- Local Access to Coordinated Healthcare --at Duke University Medical Center's Division of Community Health.

The man was referred to LATCH last November by El Centro Hispano.

"He was homeless, no family, friends, no connections at all," said Maria Jaramillo, a social worker at LATCH, which is designed to help the increasing number of local residents who lack health insurance and a regular source of medical care. "He had just been robbed, and had been hit on the head. He had been living at the Urban Ministries homeless shelter, but since he had dementia, he couldn't remember how to get back there, so he was just living on the streets."

And he had been, Jaramillo believes, for some time.

"We think he had been wandering around this country for years," she said. "There was nobody to help him."

No green card, no help

The man, who spoke only Spanish, told Jaramillo he was a resident of the United States but he didn't have any paperwork -- no green card -- to prove it. Without the green card, he couldn't get Social Security or Medicaid. Without Social Security or Medicaid, he couldn't get appropriate medical care or housing. And to get a replacement green card can cost nearly $500.

Jaramillo called the U.S. Immigration Service to find out how to apply for a fee waiver for a replacement green card. She went to the local Social Security office, which confirmed the man had an account. But they couldn't give it to her because he needed two types of identification to confirm who he was.

In the meantime, he was frequently still sleeping on the streets.

Jaramillo worked with Lincoln Community Health Service, which helped find temporary lodging. And then Adult Protection Services suggested Eno Pointe Assisted Living.

But there was no money to pay the facility. In March, however, he moved in.

"We took him without getting paid," said Eno Pointe's executive director, Doris Coleman. "This was someone who really needed assistance and fortunately we were in a position to do it. We took a gamble and it really paid off."

The man, Coleman recalled, was in pretty bad shape then. "He needed to be cleaned up and his memory was not good at all," she said.

Jaramillo got the patient's Social Security's number from the immigration service after explaining the situation. With the Social Security number, she was able to get Medicaid for her client.

But "I kept thinking, there's got to be something we could do to find his family," she said.

Tracing his Mexican roots

The man remembered the names of his brothers. He dimly recalled the name of the town he had lived in many years ago: San Luis Potosi. a Mexican city of nearly 700,000 people. Jaramillo found the names of different lawyers and public officials in the area. She sent a group e-mail to them, with a photo of her client, describing his situation, and asking if they could help find his brothers.

She received one e-mail back. She called San Luis Potosi and officials put her in touch with the brothers.

"They knew the mother's name and the father's name," Jaramillo said. "I asked them about some little things my patient had given me, to confirm they were they same people. And they were."

"They said, 'Yes, it's our brother. We've been looking for him for 30 years.' "

Since then, Jaramillo has called the brothers from her patient's room at Eno Pointe. The siblings have talked on the phone several times. Another brother, living in Denver, has come to visit this summer.

"They thought he was dead," Jaramillo explained. "They had wanted to look for him, but they hadn't even known where to start."

The fee waiver application for the replacement green card has been approved. Next month, the man goes to immigration to get his new card. He has been approved for disability.

"To know that he's OK now, it's really a miracle," Jaramillo said.