Colorado man descends into homelessness after losing sight, job and housing

Dale Yamada was overjoyed. After two short operations, his vision was back. 

"I've been on a terrible journey but things are getting better," he said. It has been a long year for Yamada, who for years worked as a maintenance worker at an apartment complex in Lakewood. It meant $25 an hour and reduced rent. He had a car that felt like brand new, even though it was a 2015 model.

He was not well off, but getting by. Health insurance cost extra. Too much. But not someone who sits still well, he liked the job. 

"I did plumbing, sinks, faucets. Dishwashers," explained Yamada. 

Then his vision started sliding. He went to an optometrist where there wasn't much they could do. 

"I went to get some glasses and the lady said, 'I can't give you glasses, you're blind,'" he recalled. 

He had severe cataracts. The focus blurred, the colors were distorted and darkness was closing in. 

"In Dale's case this would have completely been washed out," explained ophthalmologist Dr. Howard Amiel showing a small painting in his office. "And greens would not look green and blues would not look blue." 

Cataracts happen as we age. Howard is closing in on 60. 

"Cataracts is a leading cause of blindness in the third world. In this country it's rare to see it in both eyes," said Amiel.   

Yamada says he was soon told he was no longer employable. 

"I couldn't live there for free. I couldn't work there. So they actually evicted me out of there," explained Yamada

He explained a conversation with his boss. 

"He said Dale I did all I could, you've been here for a while, we haven't evicted you yet, but you have to leave. And they put a note on my door," he continued. 

All his life he'd worked as a laborer since picking onions as a young teenager. He had never had relied on government support. But with his vision worsening, he attempted to obtain unemployment. 

"The lady says, 'you've already applied.' I said, 'no I didn't,'" he said. 

Repeated attempts to get it rectified he says, have changed nothing. 

"It's still on hold to this day and in August it will be a year that I applied for unemployment. I haven't got nothing," said Yamada. "I went from $25 an hour to zero… I had no bank account. I was barely making it with my car and my apartment." 

The Division of Employment Insurance replied to an inquiry from CBS News Colorado about Yamada's claim. 

Philip Spesshardt, director of the Division of Unemployment Insurance replied via email saying: 

"No benefits were paid to the fraudulent claim, as a result of identity verification requirements and immediately being flagged by our fraud triggers. Mr. Yamada was advised to file a fraud report at that time. That fraudulent claim was removed, so there is nothing blocking Mr. Yamada from filing." 

Yamada says he was never advised to file a fraud report, but was instead told by a staffer they were looking into his claim and he would be contacted. He says he was never contacted about it.  

His daughter has a low income apartment where rules prohibit other tenants, so he can only stay a few days at a time. He spent some nights in his car at first, but that didn't last. 

"Came out of my daughter's (where I) took a shower, came out to my car and my car was gone. They had repo'd my car," Yamada explained. 

Soon he was a shelter in downtown Denver. 

"It was a terrible place," he shared. "I was very scared. There's too much drugs. There's too much just too much chaos down there. It's out of hand." 

He would get services, but sleep outdoors. Winter was harsh. He was having trouble getting around. One time he heard the screeching of tires. He'd nearly been hit by a car. The driver yelled at him. 

Yamada told him he could not see. The driver yelled some more and drove off. He was helped to get on Medicaid and food stamps, which allowed him to eat. 

He would ask for help at the grocery store to find food and the clerks would help. He would sit in a McDonald's for long hours and not being drunk or on drugs he said, they showed kindness and let him remain. Some people bought him food from time to time. But he sunk into depression. 

"I didn't want to live anymore," he recalled. 

But the health coverage was the big change. 

"Fortunately with Medicaid we have the ability to help them," said Amiel about people like Yamada. With eligibility, he was in the office for an exam soon after. 

"Somebody with that degree of blindness would have difficulty just walking downtown, being safe in the community, let alone holding a job," said Amiel. 

Yamada was soon set up for two operations, one on each eye. Common procedures, they take less than 10 minutes each.

"I said I can help this guy. This is great. I can really impact this guy's life," said Amiel.  

Yamada was out waiting for a bus Thursday once again. But this time after an operation on his second eye he was able to see it clearly. The colors and brightness were back. 

His vision was nearly perfect. His journey to the bottom he hopes, is over. 

"I'm back on my feet again. Just got to get a job, get me a vehicle. Get me something to drive around in. I'm back to normal man. Make a little bit of money so I can get my own apartment like I had," expressed Yamada.

He is hoping for a simple job, maybe as a dishwasher, just to climb back up to what he had lost in a life that turned out to be close to the edge, even with a steady job.