An Update on My Brother Levi Greenfield

July 5th, 2024 Update:

Here is an update on my brother Levi for those of you who have been wondering, as well as a request for community connection and friendship.

Levi is my older brother by 15 months. He just turned 39 on June 8th. We shared a bedroom in our house in Ashland all the way up until he went away to college. Bunk beds in fact (he had the top bunk). Although we grew up in the same little house in the same little town, Levi and I have lived quite different lives.

As many of you know he has had some real struggles for the last few years. He started to experience a serious mental health crisis 5 years ago and in spring of 2022 he left Wisconsin, moving out of my mom’s home and going out into the world for the first time on his own. He landed in Austin, Texas, not in a balanced state after leaving a mental health hospital and the mental health struggles have continued since then, going in and out of stability. We have been quite dedicated as a family to supporting Levi to the best of our limited ability. I have visited him in Austin twice, but both times turned out to be when he was in a mental health crisis and connecting with him was basically impossible.

He has been in a group home in Austin for about 10 months which meets many of his basic needs. After a period of instability in March-April and substantial struggle he has been stable for about a month. He is in consistent communication with family. I’m happy to say that at the moment he is in a relatively stable state and when we speak to him he’s cheery. We are supporting him with what we can. So my friends, there is much to be grateful for. At the same time, it’s been a big challenge for my mom and the whole family. (I have not gone into detail with how severe the mental health crises has been in this post).

Today, I am reaching out to the community because Levi is seeking connection and friendship! I’m so happy that he is because I’ve always believed that connection is what he needs most and can provide the most healing. Meaning and purpose are some of the most powerful remedies to depression. Friendship is something we all want, and Levi does not currently have this. I have tried this in the past when Levi wanted me to, but the timing didn’t end up aligning with his mental health state. I’m hopeful that this time the connections will be made, as Levi is in the place for them.

For the last month he has been more proactive, doing a lot of walking, wanting to eat healthier food and feeling open to making friends and going out. My brother Joe is taking initiative to coordinate with anyone who would like to support Levi through spending some time together in Austin or virtually. Levi’s interests right now are:

Gaming (Xbox/Online/Development etc.)
Card games (Magic the Gathering, Pokemon, etc.)
Coding
Dungeons and Dragons
Small Day Trips (trips to the zoo, maybe swimming, etc.)
Movies and Music
Talking about philosophy, spirituality and life.

If you would be interested in being supportive to Levi through spending time together or helping him get involved in the community, please reach out to my brother Joe at friendsforlevi@gmail.com. Joe will respond to your email and connect you with Levi if you find that there is a match! Joe will be able to answer any questions or concerns.

I am hopeful that through my community Levi can make some connections and perhaps even some friendships. I would be so grateful for any of you who feel called to connect and who reach out.

Love,
Robin

Update April 2024:

Levi had a mental health breakdown at the group home and had a few weeks to a month of great instability on the streets, in a mental health hospital and dealing with the police some as well. We didn’t hear from him for multiple weeks and then called from a mental health hospital in the Austin area.

Update March 19th 2024:

Levi has been in the group home in Austin, Texas for five months now. He was doing very well and stable until a couple weeks ago and is currently seeming to be in a mental health crises. This is the fourth or fifth mental health crises in the last three years. Stability rarely lasts for more than a handful of months in this chapter of his life. I visited him in Austin March 13th and was disheartened that he did not want to see me or speak to any family. He had been in almost daily contact with my mom for the months prior and had said he wanted me to visit the last two times I had spoken to him. He wanted me help him find friends in Austin and I traveled there to help him find community. Unfortunately the timing of my visit happened to be as he was entering another mental health crises, which is when he becomes afraid or dissociated with family. I will continue to update this occasionally, however with the instability it is challenging to keep a full update. However, I do this because I know a lot of you wonder how he is doing.

Update December 26th 2023:

Levi is living in Austin, Texas in a group home and doing relatively well. He has been there for three months. I’m reaching out to the community for a Dear Friend that perhaps would like to spend time with Levi in person or virtually.

Do you enjoy playing board games, talking about world peace and politics or renewable lifestyles? Levi is kind and quiet and would like to connect with someone who is friendly. You can reach out to Levi on his facebook profile and you can add him as a friend to simply stay in touch on Facebook too! You can email him at levgree@yahoo.com. Some social connections would be very beneficial to him.

Note: Levi might not respond to everyone as he is kind of shy so if he doesn’t respond please don’t take it personally.

Update August 5th 2023:

I am deeply grateful to share that Levi is doing very well. He is relatively stable, living in Bryan, Texas. If you would like to share a message of support or even meet in person to share a meal, you can email him.

Update May 15th 2023:

Amazing news Dear Friends!
We heard from Levi on May 14th after four months. Communication is going very well. He is in Bryan, Texas staying at a shelter and seems to be doing relatively well!
I asked if he’d like to meet any of my friends or online connections and he said yes!
If you live in that area and would like to go for a walk or take Levi out to share a meal or tea, please reach out to him.
Or, if you would simply like to reach out with support remotely you are most welcome to. Email him at levgree@yahoo.com
Please read this full post before reaching out to him.
Sending so much love to you all!
Robin

April 19th 2023:

Hello Dear Friends,
Here is an update on my Brother Levi.

Three months ago he walked out of the group home and we haven’t heard a word from him since.

In early January of 2023, the group home called us and said that Levi had been gone for a couple of days. It was reason for concern but at the same time, I thought maybe he’d just gone for a wander.

His roommate said he got a package in the mail and then walked out the door, with no backpack, no cellphone, no credit card, I.D., or wallet. He left everything and walked out with just the clothes on his back.

We reported him missing and we got a few reports of him being seen by the police on State Highway 21 West on January 1st, State Highway 95 & Roemer Road on January 26th, and still heading North on State Highway 95 just outside of Taylor, Texas on the 28th. Levi told the police that he was fine, so the police told us that Levi is no longer missing. This is understandable because he indeed was not missing now that they confirmed he was in front of them.

The issue is that he is in a mental health crisis and most likely wandering in a state of delusion and paranoia. This has been the case every other time he has left his home and gone walking, so it is likely to be the case now. Although I think he experiences moments of bliss in this mental health crisis, I think for the most part he is feeling lost, confused, scared and angry.

Last summer, when I found him in Austin, Texas, he was wandering the streets and had money. He was staying in a motel and just occasionally sleeping outside. He generally comes across as “lucid” to the police who have spoken to him and to the few people I met on the streets who had seen him around. So to many people, it appears he’s doing relatively alright.

His group home was in rural Texas (Manor) and as far as we could tell from the few reports, he started wandering rural Texas, with no one direction of walking. We recently got a bill in the mail from a hospital, showing that he was picked up by an ambulance on January 30th and taken to St. Joseph Health Regional Hospital in Bryan, TX. We called the hospital and they could only confirm that he wasn’t there at the time (due to regulations).

That is all the information that we have. We have no way to contact Levi and although he came to us for help last September and we helped him to get into a mental health crisis center and then to start living relatively autonomously in the group home, he is not coming to us now. He had three stable months at the group home and then just walked out without telling anyone there.

If you do see Levi, please let us know. We would guess he is within the counties of Travis, Bastrop, Williamson, or Brazos, Texas.

Dear Friends, send some positive energy and love to Levi if you would like to. Think warm and healing thoughts. Please do not despair.

Dear Friends of this region of Texas, if you see Levi, please share some compassion with him.

He has been very friendly and probably still is. He has loved talking to people. He may love to talk to you!

If he doesn’t want help, there’s not much that can be done. My family and I don’t know of anything we can do.

If you have had an interaction with him that you’d like to share, you can email or text us.

Our email is connect@robingreenfield.org and our phone is ‪‭(415) 996-4648‬. You will reach my Brother, Joe.

Please Dear Friends, if you see me, don’t ask me about Levi, and don’t send me messages asking for updates. If there’s an update, I’ll add it here. If you’d like, you can check back on this post for updates. I feel a lot of pain and it does not serve me well to talk about Levi or help me be of the best service. When I think about Levi over the last two months I feel deep, deep sadness. There’s not much I can do for Levi if he doesn’t want help, so I do not spend my mental energy thinking about it. I will be sending him warmth and love when I think about him and doing my best to transform pain into healing compassion.

You don’t need to find Levi to spread compassion. There are many people in difficult situations like him and they could all use compassion. Showing them that you care and that you see them can go a very long way, often a lot longer than buying them food or giving them money.

We all need compassion and love and we are all looking for purpose, meaning, and love in life. I try to remember this in all of my interactions.

Love,

Robin

Here are some of the more recent photos of Levi.

Photo in Texas November 2022:

Here is a photo of Levi when he had a shaved head, just in case his head is shaven now: