"So relieved:" North Shore Bank staff helps save loyal customer's life by simply checking in



MILWAUKEE -- As they continue to offer credit lines to customers, employees at one Milwaukee bank are also getting credit. This, after employees at a North Shore Bank branch were instrumental in making the calls which contributed to a life-saving welfare check on Tuesday, February 7th.



"I feel great. Honestly, I feel so relieved," said North Shore Bank Branch Manager Krystynn Taylor.

Taylor said Sylvester Gorden is a popular bank patron.

"He's our regular customer," said Taylor.

Krystynn Taylor



By the 23rd of January, the 80-year-old's absence stretched to the point that the familiar faces at the North Shore Bank branch at Milwaukee's MLK and Reservoir, took notice. An employee called Gorden's niece, Janice Gorden.

"The bank was like, 'He's usually here every two days and he's not here. He hasn't been here since the 13th,'" said Janice Gorden. "The crazy thing about it is, I kind of blew it off."

But the bank staff did not blow it off.

Fueled by concern, they contacted bank security.



"They called Social Services, and Social Services gave me a second call," said Janice Gorden.



Janice immediate went to her uncle's house, where the man she describes as the consummate "loner," was home, not feeling well. He suffers from blood clots in his lungs.

"He wasn't feeling well, and so I had to call 911 and get him out to the hospital right away," Janice Gorden said.

Janice Gorden



Janice said her uncle is in need of continuing treatment, but she and the North Shore Bank family are eager to see his regularly scheduled stops resume soon.

"We do form the relationships with the people in our community and make sure that we're uplifting each other and looking out for each other," said Taylor.

Janice Gorden said she's the founder of an organization called "Victims of Milwaukee Violence," which helps provide after-care services to the loved ones of those who lose their lives to violent crime in the City of Milwaukee. As such, she says she spends a lot of time looking out for the interests of others, and she has a different degree of appreciation for others who are looking out for her and her uncle Gorden.