Emergency Accommodation for Elderly Homeless Man
Donation protected
Hi, my name is Jennifer and I am raising money to help pay for emergency accommodation in a Backpacker Hostel for my elderly uncle, who is homeless, has mental illness and stage 3 cancer.
I have hidden his identity because he is extremely vulnerable.
Is a very long and complex situation, but I have mentioned the most important parts to explain what's happened.
My uncle, in his 70s, has been a UK citizen all his life. He has stage 3 (Inoperable) prostate cancer and is waiting for Radiotherapy. He has had an extremely difficult life with a history of violent and sexual abuse, which has left him with mental health issues since he was as a child. This has caused him to suffer from severe Chronic PTSD, Depression with Suicidal tendencies. He is Autistic, Dyslexic and he has OCD Hoarding Disorder. He also suffers from Panic attacks, Osteoporosis of the Spine, Arthritis in both hips and knees, Tinnitus, Neuropathy in his feet and is doubly Incontinent. From this list you can see he suffers greatly and everyday he faces lots of challenges to cope with everyday living. He is now homeless on top of everything else.
Back in November 2020, he was evicted from his home, where he lived alone for over 20 years. He wasn't receiving the mental and physical health support he needed and was living in unspeakable conditions (see photos) which he kept secret from his family. We only found out about his living conditions after he reached out for help. Due to his health challenges, his relationships with family and friends had broken down completely and he was alone. He only had me and my mum (his sister) for support and we lived far away.
I am physically disabled, a wheelchair user and have my own mental health issues. I tried to help him from a distance the best way I could. I arranged a team of volunteers to clean out the property and assist him in placing all this belongings into storage units (3 in total).
He was then placed into emergency housing by the Council. He had a girlfriend who lived in Turkey. The covid lockdowns had started and the window of opportunity to be with her was closing and he was scared. If he had waited he wouldn't have been able to see her for a very long time and he didn't want to risk it. In a panic, he made the decision to go to Turkey to be with her. He was very weak and unwell at that time. It was highly probable that if he had stayed, he wouldn't have survived the Covid period alone. At that time, he wouldn't have known the severity of the impact the lockdowns brought and the level of restrictions for Turkey. Consequently the Council then gave him 10 days noticed to evicted him from the emergency accommodation because he was abroad and couldn't return. Me and my mum (pensioner with heart disease), had to do the very long journey to be there to help clear his accommodation in his absence with a van and moving company. This was during lockdown and we couldn't get any volunteers to assist due to risk of infection and government restrictions. It was an extremely difficult and strenuous time for us, having our own vulnerabilities and scared of catching Covid.
My uncle's girlfriend has a long history of Care experience, working in hospitals and looking after relatives, so he was confident that she was fully capable in taking good care of him. She absolutely did! She literally saved and prolonged his life and gave him a much better quality of life compared to how he was living in the UK. They got married in Turkey in 2021 and were really happy together. Understandably his benefits were cut because he was out of the country for too long, so he started to run out of money. He attempted to get his wife a visa, so that he could return to the UK with her and start his Radiotherapy and she could care for him and be there to support him. Sadly trying to get her a visa from Turkey was a very expensive and long drawn out ordeal, which didn't work out which was extremely frustrating and upsetting. He made the very difficult decision to leave his wife behind and flew back alone. He almost didn't make the flight as he collapsed at the airport and starting vomiting. The local Doctor had to clear him to be safe to fly. After he landed, he went straight to A&E to get checked out and then he approached the Council offices to seek assistance in housing. He was assessed and the council refused to house him or offer any funds for housing and sent him away to sleep rough on the streets. He paid for 1 night in a hostel and then ended up spending 2 nights sleeping on the floor in the hospital toilet and then 1 night on a recliner in the A&E department. The hospital discharged him and basically said "there is nothing more we can do for you and you need to leave." He attempted to appeal the Councils decision and they still upheld their original decision.
We have a passionate community advocate, who is experienced in Housing and has taken on my uncle as a client. He can relate to my uncle on a personal level, which makes him the perfect person to represent him. He is confident that we have a strong case to take the Council to court. We have applied for legal aid and we now have a Solicitor on board who is preparing the paperwork.
I have hidden his identity because he is extremely vulnerable.
Is a very long and complex situation, but I have mentioned the most important parts to explain what's happened.
My uncle, in his 70s, has been a UK citizen all his life. He has stage 3 (Inoperable) prostate cancer and is waiting for Radiotherapy. He has had an extremely difficult life with a history of violent and sexual abuse, which has left him with mental health issues since he was as a child. This has caused him to suffer from severe Chronic PTSD, Depression with Suicidal tendencies. He is Autistic, Dyslexic and he has OCD Hoarding Disorder. He also suffers from Panic attacks, Osteoporosis of the Spine, Arthritis in both hips and knees, Tinnitus, Neuropathy in his feet and is doubly Incontinent. From this list you can see he suffers greatly and everyday he faces lots of challenges to cope with everyday living. He is now homeless on top of everything else.
Back in November 2020, he was evicted from his home, where he lived alone for over 20 years. He wasn't receiving the mental and physical health support he needed and was living in unspeakable conditions (see photos) which he kept secret from his family. We only found out about his living conditions after he reached out for help. Due to his health challenges, his relationships with family and friends had broken down completely and he was alone. He only had me and my mum (his sister) for support and we lived far away.
I am physically disabled, a wheelchair user and have my own mental health issues. I tried to help him from a distance the best way I could. I arranged a team of volunteers to clean out the property and assist him in placing all this belongings into storage units (3 in total).
He was then placed into emergency housing by the Council. He had a girlfriend who lived in Turkey. The covid lockdowns had started and the window of opportunity to be with her was closing and he was scared. If he had waited he wouldn't have been able to see her for a very long time and he didn't want to risk it. In a panic, he made the decision to go to Turkey to be with her. He was very weak and unwell at that time. It was highly probable that if he had stayed, he wouldn't have survived the Covid period alone. At that time, he wouldn't have known the severity of the impact the lockdowns brought and the level of restrictions for Turkey. Consequently the Council then gave him 10 days noticed to evicted him from the emergency accommodation because he was abroad and couldn't return. Me and my mum (pensioner with heart disease), had to do the very long journey to be there to help clear his accommodation in his absence with a van and moving company. This was during lockdown and we couldn't get any volunteers to assist due to risk of infection and government restrictions. It was an extremely difficult and strenuous time for us, having our own vulnerabilities and scared of catching Covid.
My uncle's girlfriend has a long history of Care experience, working in hospitals and looking after relatives, so he was confident that she was fully capable in taking good care of him. She absolutely did! She literally saved and prolonged his life and gave him a much better quality of life compared to how he was living in the UK. They got married in Turkey in 2021 and were really happy together. Understandably his benefits were cut because he was out of the country for too long, so he started to run out of money. He attempted to get his wife a visa, so that he could return to the UK with her and start his Radiotherapy and she could care for him and be there to support him. Sadly trying to get her a visa from Turkey was a very expensive and long drawn out ordeal, which didn't work out which was extremely frustrating and upsetting. He made the very difficult decision to leave his wife behind and flew back alone. He almost didn't make the flight as he collapsed at the airport and starting vomiting. The local Doctor had to clear him to be safe to fly. After he landed, he went straight to A&E to get checked out and then he approached the Council offices to seek assistance in housing. He was assessed and the council refused to house him or offer any funds for housing and sent him away to sleep rough on the streets. He paid for 1 night in a hostel and then ended up spending 2 nights sleeping on the floor in the hospital toilet and then 1 night on a recliner in the A&E department. The hospital discharged him and basically said "there is nothing more we can do for you and you need to leave." He attempted to appeal the Councils decision and they still upheld their original decision.
We have a passionate community advocate, who is experienced in Housing and has taken on my uncle as a client. He can relate to my uncle on a personal level, which makes him the perfect person to represent him. He is confident that we have a strong case to take the Council to court. We have applied for legal aid and we now have a Solicitor on board who is preparing the paperwork.
I have contacted the 3 storage companies who agreed to give my uncle 1 month payment holiday, because he simply cannot afford to pay right now. This means he will have a bit of money for essential living cost. We hope his benefits will be reinstated ASAP and once he is housed the storage units can be emptied and the pressure of continuing to keep up those payments will come to an end.
There is a pending visitor visa application for his wife at the moment. They are working on getting her here soon, but the priority is housing my uncle.
In the meantime though, my uncle is sleeping in a backpacker hostel and they have allowed him to stay for a discounted rate of £180 a week (usually £230). He will be due to check out on Wednesday 1st November 2023.
I am trying to raise money for an additional week accommodation for him. I want to avoid him sleeping out in the wet and cold streets.
Thank you for your time to read this and your support is greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
In the meantime though, my uncle is sleeping in a backpacker hostel and they have allowed him to stay for a discounted rate of £180 a week (usually £230). He will be due to check out on Wednesday 1st November 2023.
I am trying to raise money for an additional week accommodation for him. I want to avoid him sleeping out in the wet and cold streets.
Thank you for your time to read this and your support is greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Organizer
Jennifer Christelle Aquilina
Organizer
England