Nothing comes for free.
That’s the lesson that a New Jersey man who found and turned in $850 learned on Thursday when he was denied benefits for failing to mention his good deed’s payoff.
James Brady, a former homeless man who received national recognition after Hackensack, N.J., police rewarded him the $850 he found on the street and gave to authorities, was turned down for General Assistance and Medicaid benefits from Oct. 18 through Dec. 31 because he failed to report the income.
“This is stupid,” Brady told the New Jersey Record. “I had already proven my honesty by turning in the $850. They were treating me like I was a dishonest individual, like I was trying to cheat them out of the money.”
Director of Hackensack Human Services Department Agatha Toomey said she couldn’t bend the rules for the local samaritan.
Brady, who was homeless at the time, found the cash last spring. Police awarded him the money in October after no one claimed it. His heartening story caught national attention and a commendation from the City Council. He used some of the money to buy toilet paper, napkins, a bath mat and a sandwich the day authorities gave him the money.
The local hero moved into a subsidized apartment with a county housing voucher in July, but was told he has to go through the city’s Human Services Department to apply for Medicaid and $210 monthly general assistance because of his new address.
Brad has an appointment with the Legal Services of New Jersey Tuesday, hoping to win back his benefits.