Law firm pitches in to give veteran a hand up

By any standards, Bret Cole has had an amazing run of bad luck. In just three short months, the 33-year-old U.S. Air Force veteran has lost his job, been evicted from his apartment and undergone an emergency appendectomy shortly after starting work at another place.

But Cole, now recovering and getting back to work, is saying thanks for the help he got from an unexpected source: The lawyer representing the Gardner apartment owners who evicted him.

“If it wasn’t for Jo Ann (Butaud) and people who worked at that law firm, I have no idea where me and my daughter would be,” Cole said.

The lawyers and support staff at the Shawnee firm of Evans & Mullinix chipped in $735 for rent on his next place. But that’s not all: They also worked with his next landlord to get a lower security deposit, got him a $200 gift card and a turkey for Thanksgiving, plus a $500 contribution from a friend toward the following month’s rent.

Cole’s misfortunes began in September, when his 1993 Dodge Caravan was acting up. The car broke down so many times that he eventually lost his job as an assistant kitchen manager in Spring Hill.

Cole lined himself up a new job working construction. But he woke up to start his first day of work sick. A trip to the hospital revealed that Cole had a slew of health problems — high blood pressure, a skipping heartbeat and kidney damage. The doctor put him on bed rest until he could follow up with the Veterans Health Administration. Cole was in the Air Force from 2002-2010, having served in Utah, South Korea and South Carolina, loading and maintaining bombs on F-16s.

But days turned into weeks as he waited for his appointment. After five weeks off work, Cole found himself seriously behind in rent on his $650-a-month apartment. The late charges and legal fees quickly added up, bringing the total amount he owed to almost $2,000.

“Everything just kind of snowballed and put me in a very bad way,” he said.

The eviction notice sent Cole scrambling to find community and veterans resources to help him get caught up. But two days before his next hearing, he said, he found out the apartment managers would not agree to let him stay, even with that extra help. “I spent almost a month trying to get resources together only to find out it wouldn’t have done me any good,” he said.

Court proceedings were delayed, though, and Cole began working on finding another place. He was especially worried that he might not have a place for his daughter, Chevonna, who split her time between Cole and her mother.

This time he had more trouble, because of the blotch the outstanding debt left on his credit rating. Once again, Cole said he reached out to veterans and community resources. “I found places that would help me once I was out on the street homeless, but nothing that was preventative,” Cole said.

When finally the eviction judgment came, Cole was beside himself. That’s when Jo Ann Butaud, partner in Evans and Mullinix, stepped out to talk to him outside the courtroom.

It wasn’t supposed to have been her case, she said, but she had agreed to do a favor and fill in for another lawyer to represent the landlord.

Butaud isn’t always a soft touch, she said. “For some reason this just tugged on my heartstrings,” she said.

Cole had another job lined up — at an Army ammunition plant in Independence — but needed to find an apartment in the area. He couldn’t find help through community agencies. He wouldn’t be getting a paycheck for a couple of weeks and he had a 7-year-old daughter.

Butaud went back to the office and talked to a paralegal. “I said, ‘Tell you what, let’s put out a call,’ ” she said.

Their help went beyond collecting cash. They also negotiated with the new landlords, convincing them to accept Cole despite the eviction and debt that’s now on his record. They searched, with variable success, for agencies that are supposed to help wounded warriors.

Cole was overwhelmed. In fact he still gets a bit choked up describing it. “She took it upon herself to help me out and find me a place,” he said.

Misfortune wasn’t quite finished with Cole, however. Shortly after moving to his new place, he contracted appendicitis and had an emergency appendectomy. “If it wasn’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck,” he said with a chuckle.

He was scheduled to be back on the job soon, though, he said. He will still have to find a way to repay the $2,000. But, if anything else bad happens because of the appendicitis, he’s still got that extra money he was given on the next month’s rent.

“I’m so grateful for Jo Ann and the law firm helping me out. I really had no idea where I’d be going home to,” he said.

This story was originally published December 22, 2015 at 9:35 AM with the headline "Law firm pitches in to give veteran a hand up."