Housing Case Study 1
Mr. X is a 60-year-old widowed gentleman, living on his own with various health conditions which means he is unable to work. He is an owner occupier in a property that he has lived in for over 30 years.
Previously he served with the UK reserved forces and was a self-employed cleaner and gardener. He was managing well, with both his then wife and him working having raised their family.
Sadly Mr. X lost his wife through terminal illness and Mr. X himself was diagnosed with physical and mental health illness, following his children flying the nest, he was struggling to cope with these sudden changes in his life and bereavement. He turned to drinking alcohol which resulted in several inpatient hospital admissions and needing long term medical attention. His mental health deteriorated, and he attempted suicide on a number of occasions, he was signposted to the adult safeguarding team as he was considered a vulnerable adult.
Mr. X who has been known to the charity for many years approached JHC support Service seeking help with food bags as his benefits income was mismanaged due to his drink dependency.
It was at this point that Mr. X started to rely on the food bank and needed gas and electric grants regularly. We initially carried out an income maximisation and agreed with Mr. X for a home visit from JHC to assess his housing conditions, as he had been living alone with his health conditions and drink dependency issues.
At the home visit we soon discovered that his home had been falling into disrepair, he was hoarding, making it unhabitable, with an old inefficient boiler resulting in a very cold house. The front door to his home and windows were broken, adding to the difficulty of retaining heat in the home. He started to wander the streets………. often in drunken state. The entire home needed repairs, new flooring, boiler and doors and windows replacing.
A long-term health and housing support plan was put together, which was agreeable to Mr. X. It required regular engagement from Mr. X with JHC support Service.
Over a period of 2 years with collaborations of partnership working and getting the appropriate support, Mr. X started to engage and to address his drink dependency, mental health support was given with regular appointments. Mr. X was working hard to help himself and was committed to better health and wellbeing.
Alongside health improvement JHC support Service made referrals to various departments within the local authority to replace his broken front door and windows, replacing his old inefficient boiler and getting better insulation to retain the heat in his home.
Mr. X engagement to improve his living conditions was further supported with a one off clean through by a JHC referral to a partner organisation who helped clean his home, clear the unwanted broken pieces of furniture, the cost was covered by JHC as Mr. X was also involved in the cleaning process himself.
Following the clearance and cleaning of his house Mr. X was supported with further funding to replace the flooring and now has a home where he feels warm, a welcoming place for him to live comfortably.
Mr. X is working hard towards his recovery and achieving sobriety on a daily basis. This is ongoing work for Mr. X and he knows that JHC doors are open for any future housing or health issues he may face.