Homeless at Christmas

[Lukearron]

Hi all

I came across a guys story on this site as I was needing some advice and was really moved by his experience and would like to share my own.

I've recently been made homeless. Not as of yet as my friend feels bad and says I can stay until after xmas but after that I have nowhere to go.

I've been moving around in London a lot after I lived one borough where i received 4 years of treatment a mental health diagnosis. The council here were really quite awful (i don't really know if most of them are?) and completly denied me any housing when I was homeless. I then ended up moving into somehwere that was disgustingly filthy, full of cockroaches and cat poo. There was also a really abusive guy downstairs. I ended up getting so frustrated that i moved out to another council and had to cut my treatment short (as i wasn't under their council anymore).

I moved in with a friend (her place) and stayed on benefits while trying to look for another CMHT (community mental health team) but our relationship really broke down due to my suicidle idiaion and moodswings so she ended up moving out herself and with that i basically had to move aswell.
I ended up finding a temporary place through friends and moved there. While there i really wanted to get off benefits and do some work (it had been a long time as treatment was fulltime) and I started to think about getting back into education. I applied and got in and started going to uni.

Which bring me to where i am right about now. The tempory place ended and me and my dog didnt have anywhere to go so i moved in with a friend. Again he is starting to get annoyed (and i really can't blame him for this) about me being here. I think my moodswings are really rubbing on him and he's basically saying i now need to go. I went to the CAB because I wanted advice about my mental illness and my housing situations (especailly with sharing as I feel its dangerous for others to be around). The guy there told me I'm homeless and I should go to the council where my uni is and tell them.

I rang them up earlier today and the guy seemed pretty nice.
He took my info and told me to bring in a letter from my friend along with his tenancy agreement and i.d, my student finance stuff, and doctors letters.

I want some help understanding if the council have to house me and my tiny dog on the grounds of

-My diagnosis concerning mental health -I have a mood disorder I'm constantly pushing on a mood rollacaoster and getting everyone involved that i live with really isn't proactive

My other dianosis- I'm HIV+ -heathy and on medication but do stop taking it in major bouts of depression

-School- do they help students? I understand that I have a student loan which can get me a room in a shared house but again this int proactive and i feel its a bit dangerous.

Homeless- What will they do to my friend that is chucking me out. He has to move out soon too and gets worried his landlord might catch us.

I'm a little worried about all this but at the same time trying to stay positive. I'm not on any form of meds atm (antidepressants) and woudl kinda like to keep it that way

I hope some of this makes a little sense and sorry for the mistakes, I am dyslexic.
Any advice would be amazing

Will keep LB peeps updated

[Lukearron]

Re: Homeless at Christmas

Just thought I would post the homeless departments at the councils' responce asking me what to bring
heres what he wrote

As agreed over the phone, please find attached an information pack with a list of docs we ask clients to provide us with. Amongst the docs we need:

Proof of ID
Proof of Homelessness (excluder’s letter, + excluder ID + excluder’s tenancy agreement)
Proof of residency
Proof of income
Medical evidence
University docs,

Please do come to our reception and we will look into how we can support you. Thanks.

I'm not really sure about my proof of residency as I'm staying on someones sofa but I'm just going to take the letter my friend will write on Friday.

[Lukearron]

Re: Homeless at Christmas

Went to the council today to drop off that list of stuff and they told me I need to come back Friday. The lady their also told me they might be able to help as I am homeless but would need to be looked into if I'm priority or not and if so I could get temporary accommodation but this costs loads and I wouldn't be entitled to housing benefit because I'm a student. Not really sure what to think but feeling a bit rubbish over this. Spent most of the day out in the cold trying to take long busses everywhere with the dog to keep out of my friends way. Feeling quite suicidle. I don't even care where I live I'm just sick of being made homeless because of my disability. I'll see what they say Friday but it's looking like I might be sleeping on a bus until i figure out what I can do.

[Peridot]

Re: Homeless at Christmas

Hi Lukearron,
Well done getting into uni. I would suggest contacting the uni. It only May they be able to help you sort some accommodation but they will also have student mental health services that you could access, including telephone nightlife type services if you need to talk to someone (they are usually student manned lines so may not be able to do anything practical but it is someone to talk to tonight at least. They may be able to provide the contact details for the right student you need to contact.
You need to get some medical support with this. It is hard dealing with the practicalities when you’re head isn’t in the right space, but there is help out there.

[slainte caragh]

Re: Homeless at Christmas

Firstly, I think you are an incredible person for being so brave and honest with your situation.

You are NOT alone, no matter how much you think you are! Have a word with the Uni about accomodation, they may be able to give you a room even if it is over Christmas, you might be able to get a housing grant while you are there.

As for the council, again you are not alone. There is a service that is not very openly offered called advocacy. The advocate speaks on your behalf when you don't feel strong enough to but offer a "hand holding" service when you do! https://www.mind.org.uk/information-.../#.WjGLzlVl_IU

Have you spoken to the Terrance Higgins Trust? They also offer help with housing in a form of advice and "hand holding" and might be able to help with advocacy too. http://www.tht.org.uk/myhiv/Your-rig...g/Homelessness

Don't forget, if you want to talk, all off us are just the other side of a keyboard.

Wishing you and your lil dog love!

[Lukearron]

Re: Homeless at Christmas

Hi Peridot,

I contacted student services at my uni already and spoke to my disabilities advisor about this. Because there are other students in halls she said it isn't suitable (i also have my dog ) with my health condition and said i should be looking for a bedsit or a 1 bed and gave me a list of private landlords approved by the uni. I did look into these but the prices where really high and unaffordable.

With medical support I do have a mentor at uni that DSA (disability students allowance) has allocated me but still as of yet not seen a doctor because i haven't settled in one place. I did go to the doctors of the friends area I'm staying in and applied. They said i'd be able to come in next week. From experience I'm not sure there is much they can do apart from offering me meds which I don't want to take after being off them for more than 3 years now.

I'll talk to the uni again but when I did (and my mentor) they didn't seem to phased by it.

[warwick65]

Re: Homeless at Christmas

Hi Luke
As Peridot says, get in touch urgently with the University and also the Students Union as you will be a member. Many universities have accommodation which they let people use in emergencies and also lists of landlords. Is it really a backward step to be moving into a shared house, many people , especially if you are in London do that even when they have relatively good jobs. The Uni and the SU will have support their. many Universities also have hardship funds, they may be able to provide a grant to get you into property - this isn't just out of the goodness of their hearts, it is part of the process they need to sign up to in order to charge higher fees. I am going to make a wild guess and say if you are in London this might be your Uni and here is a link to details of their hardship fund http://www.bbk.ac.uk/student-service.../hardship-fund
If you are elsewhere just go onto the website and type hardship

Have you got all the loans and grants you are entitled to and also any benefits such as PIP , these may not be of primary importance at the moment but if possible mention them to the SU who can help.

You say you are +ve but well and on meds so I assume your VL is undetectable. Quite frankly if I were you I would not disclose your condition at this point. I know it is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act and i don't think you should hide the fact but just until you get sorted.

Have you been in touch with agencies such as the Terrence Higgins Trust who may also be able to offer advice , and if your mental health condition is in any way linked to your diagnosis they may be able to offer practical support, even if your MH has nothing to do with the diagnosis they may still be able to help.

Just to add, when I said don't disclose your status I was meaning to private landlords - when it comes to the council it might be beneficial - again if you are in receipt of PIP that would also help.

[Lukearron]

Re: Homeless at Christmas

Hi guys

Thanks so much for the support.

I will certainly go to my uni and request some more support with this.

The reason I was going to disclose my status was due to the fact my doctor wrote a letter about being concerned that I'm always moving and not having a stable doctor where I can have access of my medication. I've missed doses because I'm so far away from the doctor in one borough and my doctor is in the other which is really isn't good as the medication can stop working. I want to include this as i think it just ads a bit of weight to the rest of the stuff and maybe they'll help me to be stable near uni with a doctor that i can actually see.

I've only spoken to shelter and the CAB at this point who both advised me about the council but I'm going to ring uni and ask them about emergency housing, I hope they let my dog come.

I'll call the Terrence Higgins trust tomorrow. I have been in touch with them in the past and they are great.

[Lukearron]

Re: Homeless at Christmas

I don't get PIP anymore. I had an interview with them and ESA and they took me off PIP (which was really frustrating as i was using it to see a therapist once a week). They reassessed my ESA too and i continued getting it. I phoned them before going to uni because I thought i wouldn't be able to claim it with a student loan. Is this the case?

[warwick65]

Re: Homeless at Christmas

Hi Luke
Firstly with regard to disclosing I was referring to private landlords as although it is a protected characteristic it might be difficult to prove they had discriminated against you- so give them as few reasons as any to say no. However if it comes to public housing i.e Local authority then yes I would disclose.

As for your meds, yes you really really really must take them on time and not miss a dose but you seem aware of that anyway

With regard to PIP and ESA
As a student you can not get ESA WRAG unless you also get PIP but I am not sure about support group - again something the SU advice team may be able to help you with or disabilityrightsuk https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/h...dents-helpline

I warn you though they are not the fastest at responding but if you can get through on the helpline it might be quicker

With regard to PIP. did you appeal? If not are you out of time?

If those options are not available I would apply again and get help from the SU advice team as well. Of course PIP is a bit of a nightmare and you need 8 points. While you will certainly get 1 maybe 2 for medication why not try to get a referral to the Universities mental health or well being team - as Tescos say- every little helps.

Sorry I can not help more, I know a little about HIV because I have friends who are +ve and i know a little about Uni life and the help available as I am a mature student who was on ESA (and DLA) before I started my degree.

You pay a stupid amount in Uni fees so make use of the services they offer - as i said , they do it because they have to so they can charge stupid fee- its all about Widening participation amongst under represented groups ( yes I am very cynical)

[Lukearron]

Re: Homeless at Christmas

hey I didn't appeal and i think i'm out of time. miht have been 6 months since i was getting it though I'm not too sure will check this with them