77-year-old homeless man sleeping at O'Hare will finally access funds raised for housing, bank says

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Norbert Pikula spends his nights sleeping at Chicago's O'Hare Airport.

He's been without a stable home since November. Now, after thousands of dollars were raised through a GoFundMe to help Pikula, he still can't access the funds.

He spends his days traveling to soup kitchens across the city and spending his nights sleeping at the airport.

"I say, good, bad or what -- I'll deal with it. Regardless of whether the odds are against me or not," Pikula said.

They are words of strength from a 77-year-old Polish man who has faced more than his fair share of hardship and is without a home, yet again.

"This has happened to me a few times but I know how to deal with it," he said. "The average person would not be able to survive like I did."

Pikula said he was put out again on the streets, just as winter begins, after the friend he was staying with was admitted to the hospital.

"When the cold weather is bad like this, all the shelters are filled up like crazy," Pikula said.

So every day he travels the CTA Blue Line to spend his nights at O'Hare where he said he sleeps on chairs and benches.

"They do not harass you at all. That makes a big difference. Cause I'm not bothering nobody," Pikula said.

In the morning, he takes the Blue Line back to the Northwest Side and elsewhere to find soup kitchens.

"For me, that's how I am able to have food to eat," he said.

At one of those kitchens -- Saturdays at Holy Trinity Church in Ukrainian Village -- Pikula met Annabelle Tuma, who is a volunteer with The Chicago Help Initiative, and her mother who helped set up a GoFundMe for Pikula to pay for a low-cost studio apartment.

"The current issue, ironically, being faced is it's really difficult to open a bank account without an address," Tuma said.

Now, there is $5,000 raised, but Pikula is unable to access any of it.

"It's heartbreaking. He's in his 70s. Obviously, no one should be experiencing that but I can't imagine having to do that so long in life and at his age too," Tuma said.

"I cannot give you an answer," Pikula said when asked how soon he thinks he will be able to find housing. "It is just in the air right now. I have no idea when it's going to happen. I have to wait it out."

As of Friday afternoon, PNC Bank said they have approved Pikula's account without a fixed address so that he can actually get the money and work toward some housing.

You can help contribute to his GoFundMe here.