AMHERST — A longtime business owner in downtown Amherst is getting financial support to help him cope with his spouse’s illness.

Friends and supporters of Robert and Dorothy Green recently launched a Go Fund Me campaign for the family, which has owned Amherst Typewriter and Computing at 41 North Pleasant St. since 1976.

Their aim is to collect $5,000 to help Robert Green with expenses related to getting to Boston, where Dorothy Green is in the critical care unit, with a neuromuscular disease, at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Demetria Shabazz, a friend of the Greens, launched the Go Fund Me campaign after a phone conversation with Robert Green. In a statement, Shabazz said the campaign is “an opportunity to help our neighbors and friends in need” and “give back to a couple that have given so much to the Pioneer Valley.”

Ingrid Askew, who has known the Greens since her arrival in the area in 1978, observes that the Greens have overcome racial intimidation in the past, including in the late 1990s when a window was shattered at his business, and other incidents occurred, promoting residents to organize the Not In Our Town Coalition.

“Bob and Dorothy are beloved elders in this community and have been constant and resilient business owners in Amherst for over 35 years.” Askew said.

In 2011, the community also stepped up to help the Greens when the business faced eviction.

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