Another True Story of Humanitarian Service
How one remembered act of compassion helped reunite a man with his family after twelve years. Some of TEAM Aid’s work begins not with a phone call from a family, but with a stranger who remembers that we once helped.
Earlier this year, TEAM Aid helped a young woman found on the streets of Chicago—a case our community followed closely and supported generously. We didn’t expect a second phone call for another cause.
It came from a social worker at the same facility. She had seen what our volunteers did for that young woman, and she had another person on her mind: a gentleman in their mental health unit, recovering from a long illness. He spoke very little English. Nobody knew who his people were or where they were. In the matter of two weeks, he would be medically cleared for discharge—and with no family, no address, and no documents, discharge would have sent him to the streets again. She asked if TEAM Aid could help.
A coincidence that felt like something more
Around that same time, 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗴𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮@𝟳𝟱 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮, 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗔𝗶𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆Standing in that room, receiving recognition for work that is truly the work of our volunteers, I was already thinking about the man in the hospital a short drive away. I went to meet him. Over a slow conversation, in a language we both speak, I was able to gather two things: his full name and the name of a village in Andhra Pradesh where his family had lived long ago. That was all. Two threads.
He had come to the USA twelve years earlier and worked as a chef in restaurants. Somewhere along the way, the work stopped, the address changed, the phone numbers went dead, and the connection to his family in India thinned – and then broke entirely.
Pulling the thread
After returning, I contacted APNRT, the Andhra Pradesh government agency that works with non-resident Telugus. With a name and a village, their team went looking. And they quickly found them—his brother, his wife, his daughter, and a grandson. The family had not heard from him in several years.
From there, the work became a race. TEAM Aid turned to the Consulate General of India in Chicago, where 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐡𝐫𝐢 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐡 and his entire team responded with genuine compassion. They traced the details of his long-expired passport and issued an emergency certificate that allowed him to fly home.
TEAM Aid volunteer 𝑴𝒓. 𝑷𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝑴𝒂𝒉𝒂𝒌𝒂𝒍𝒊 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 worked together over many weeks—coordinating with the healthcare facility, the Consulate, the family in India, the airline, APNRT, and, most importantly, the gentleman himself.
“𝑨𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑, 𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍 – 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒎.”
TEAM Aid purchased his airline ticket. Prashant gave him an extraordinary amount of his time, staying with him through the day of travel, driving him to the airport, and not leaving until he personally handed him to TSA staff and confirmed he was safely on board.
𝗥ecived in Hyderabad, India.
Upon our request, APNRT arranged for a protocol officer to receive him at Hyderabad airport. There, after twelve years, he was received and handed over to his brother and the rest of his family. We are told the reunion was everything you would imagine.
WHY WE KEEP GOING
This was a daunting case. There were weeks when there seemed to be no thread to pull at all. But TEAM Aid does not give up on a person simply because the paperwork is hard.
Had we not intervened, a man recovering from illness, with little English, no documents, and no family contact, would have been discharged onto the streets of Chicago – vulnerable in every way a person can be. Instead, he is home, in his own village, with his brother, his wife, his daughter, and a grandson he is meeting for the first time.
With deepest gratitude
To our volunteers—especially Mr. Prashant Mahakali; to Consul General Shri Somnath Ghosh and the Consulate General of India in Chicago; and to APNRT, whose partnership continues to make this work possible. And to the social worker who picked up the phone a second time, thank you for remembering us.
(To respect his dignity and protect his privacy, we have modified the original photograph and withheld his name.)
— 𝑴𝒐𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝑵𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒏𝒊, 𝑭𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓, 𝑻𝑬𝑨𝑴𝑨𝒊𝒅.𝒐𝒓𝒈
