Kalief Martellus’ experience with Old Westbury Mold

Bnatale
Bnatale
Nov 5 · 4 min read

28, October, 2019- Student Union- Sophomore and Student Government President Kalief Martellus in front of his office. He was hospitalized due to the exposure of mold in the campus dorms.

28, October, 2019- $3,000 worth of property damage to Martellus’ personal belongings and property. The mold in Kalief’s dorm room spreaded to his shoes and it kept on growing on the outside of his shoes.

28, October, 2019- Most of Kalief’s clothing has been destroyed by the mold. Strangers, took him out shopping and donated money to the GoFundMe drives to help him raise funds to buy new clothing and pay his bills.

28, October, 2019- Mold grew everywhere in his dorm room, from his personal belongings to his clothing, the mold in his dorm room seemed to be haunting Kalief. It not only grows on his clothing, but also under the bed where he use to sleep

28, October, 2019- Student Union- The hospital bills on Martellus’ desk amount to $7,000. Due to the fact that he does not insurance, it makes his situation worse as his bills keep rising and the school isn’t doing anything to help his mold situation.

28, October, 2019- A pamphlet given to kalief by Northwell hospital in Syosset shows the side effects of mold exposure that he experienced. The side effects that he experianced included nauseau, vommitting, and many other side effects that impacted his health in many ways.

28, October, 2019- Kalief was diagnosed with Allergic rhinitis when he was hospitalized. This diagnosis by Northwell outlines the symptoms of the of the disease that Kalief suffers from as a result of mold exposure in the dorms.

28, October, 2019- Student Union- A petition has been started on protest websites like Change.Org, giving the students the right to voice their opinions and concerns about their living conditions and the mold outbreak. Kalief is shown being carried away in an ambulance in the photo on the Change.Org page to show the effects that the mold is causing on the health of the students that live in the Old Westbury dorms. This petition is one of the resources students use in order to send out the message to administrators that they are upset.

28, October, 2019-Student Union- A poster advertises for the mold protest organized by the Student Government Association, hangs up in the office of Martellus. He was involved heavily in this protest as he lead students through the campus and spoke a quick speech in the campus center speaking about the devastation mold is causing towards students at SUNY Old Westbury.

28, October, 2019- A resolution document by the SGA is requesting actions to be taken by the college in order to help solve the mold problem. One of the resolutions includes dipping into the schools funds to buy dehumidifiers in the dorm rooms. It also calls out OW to protect the welfare of the student body, to create unity instead of separation on the college campus.

Bnatale

Written by

Student at SUNY Old Westbury

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