Homeless - What to do?

gasiorm

Hello,

I found out yesterday evening my brother has been sleeping in his car for the last few nights. Last night he slept in my garage he would not agree to sleep in the house, to be honest I was thankful of that (which makes me feel terrible). I think he has some mental issues that he is denial about - everyone else is crazy not him. And this scares me.

He was renting a house which was sold a few months ago. The people who sold the house made it clear to him they were selling and it was sold. They let him stay to the last minute - he done nothing to try and find alternative accommodation during this time. He then stayed with a friend for 6 weeks however this was only ever to be temporary as this friends family were abroad at the time and have now returned. Again he did no searching for a place in those 6 weeks.

I'm extremely angry with him however I need to help him, he has no one else. I don't know how and where to start. I didn't sleep last night worrying.

As I mentioned above he, in my opinion, has a mental issue / depression. He has not worked for 5+ years. He gets some form of social welfare however I do not know what. He is very anti establishment, very reluctant to apply to welfare as they ask questions that he does not like to answer. He also has a dog to throw into the mix.

The above I think will not make him an easy person to live with. Sleeping in my garage is ok for a few nights however I do not want him to think this is a long term solution (I explained this to him however I know he only hears what he wants).

Please, can anyone advise how I can start to help him?

I did some searching on daft.ie, donedeal & the dealer at lunch time and there is basically nothing in our area. We are in the west of Ireland if this makes any difference. I don't know what to do.

G

Immaculata

I'm sorry to hear about this. It's a challenging situation for you and for your brother even without complications.

I suggest that the first thing you should do is call the housing department of your local council, and ask to speak to the housing outreach officer.

He or she will help you get your brother registered as homeless, and can help you and your brother go through all the supports available. There is a lot of help out there and the outreach officer will be of huge assistance to you and your brother. If your brother is already in receipt of social welfare, this helps as he will have some details on file, and if your brother was in receipt of rent allowance, then that helps too. Check your brother is on the housing list as this assessment of housing need is the foundation of a lot of services.

If your brother's willing, it might be that his GP can get him checked out in case there's anything immediate that can be helped with, health wise.

Renting a place while on social welfare is challenging and having a pet makes it, I'm sorry to say, even more challenging. Perhaps there's someone in the wider family or your circle of friends who could foster your brother's dog for a while?

You don't mention if you're renting or a home owner. If you're renting, go carefully as you don't want to go against the terms of your lease by having someone the landlord doesn't know about living with you.

Good luck, and don't feel bad. A lot of people wouldn't be willing to help and you are getting stuck in with assistance. I wish you and your brother well.

V8 Interceptor

Is your brother a foreign national? If not there's no hope he'll get a flat/house.

gasiorm

Finally got speaking to a person in the local housing office, only took 2 days! Not really much help to be honest. All I got was a link to a form to fill in. When I asked what does a person do if they have no garage to stay in I got a "we could put them in a hostel but there is no room". I'm not really sure what I was hoping for however I thought they'd be more interested in helping. I guess not. Feel even more down now.

Thecageyone

gasiorm wrote: »

Finally got speaking to a person in the local housing office, only took 2 days! Not really much help to be honest. All I got was a link to a form to fill in. When I asked what does a person do if they have no garage to stay in I got a "we could put them in a hostel but there is no room". I'm not really sure what I was hoping for however I thought they'd be more interested in helping. I guess not. Feel even more down now.

Some questions need to be asked: Are your parents still alive? are they in the area? Any other siblings that can share the responsibility? Do you have children? If so, that makes things trickier.

If the answer is no to all of these then I would try having a heart to heart with him, be firm but show you care. I mean, you do or he'd not be in your garage to begin with right? Put it to him that maybe he can stay till new year but he needs to be on best behaviour - no drinking/smoking etc in the house, no wandering about middle of the night, needs to follow the house rules just like anyone else. There's little else you can do at this late stage before Christmas, very doubtful you'll find anywhere to take him plus a dog in.

No idea what condition your garage is in [hopefully not a bit like ours, basically a giant shed full of crap, wouldn't be any room to sleep] - maybe you can make it a little more comfy for him? stick a portable tv in there, or even a radio - if he's in there most of the day he will get bored/adventerous and you don't want that. Maybe convince him to come in for meals? if he is behaving [also we don't know how old he is? - not that it matters much] the rest of the household might show a little more empathy