| These are the stories of some of our Clients . . . |
| J (as he will be known: the identities of our Clients are confidential) was referred to CSA by St Austell Job Centre via West Country Training Service. He had been travelling and sleeping rough for a long time and had in his own words “been partying hard for many years.” He had a long history of drug and alcohol misuse and offending, including domestic violence.
J had tried to settle down with his partner and children locally but this had not worked out and although he wanted to maintain contact with his family, his relationship with his partner had broken down and he found himself back on the streets and subject to a court order preventing him from going near his ex-partner and his children. After our usual assessment procedure, J was offered accommodation at Cosgarne Hall and soon found supported accommodation to be the solution to his circumstances: as well as having a roof over his head, he was encouraged to address the various issues that had prevented him from leading a successful, independent life and he was helped to access the resources he needed to do so. Once he had embarked on a support plan, he was able to progress from one goal to another and in time he acquired the skills and attitudes necessary to live a normal, healthy lifestyle. In due course, he became a valued and respected member of the Residents Committee. J was encouraged to maintain regular contact with his family throughout his stay at CSA and gradually he got back on reasonable terms with his ex-partner and re-established a role for himself in his children’s life, which was of enormous benefit to them, as well as him. J was keen to gain employment but was fairly specific in the areas he would consider. However, with the help of the support team he managed to enrol on a volunteer basis at a local Recycling Centre. Having attended for a while, J was not impressed by the attitude of some of the younger volunteers and decided he may be better suited to starting his own business. J then enrolled on a local business course in conjunction with St Austell job centre, specialising in self-trading, but J soon realised this was not going to be a viable option. His support worker had recognised and encouraged J’s keen interest in cooking and keeping fit and healthy and so we secured an opportunity for him to go on a training course with the Eatsome project on Food Hygiene and Healthy Eating. Having gained his Food Hygiene certificate, J was encouraged to share what he had learned by setting up a healthy eating project at Cosgarne Hall, which we were very keen to support, because so may of our clients lacked basic cooking and meal planning skills. With help and encouragement from the support team, J was successful in forming a group of half a dozen or so “regulars”: once a week, they met under the supervision of J’s support worker to plan a meal, consider their budget, decide on the necessary ingredients, go shopping, prepare their meals and then enjoy the fruits of their labours together. This was entirely self-funded: they shared the cost of the shopping between them. Not only did they learn about budgeting, cooking and feeding themselves properly and economically, but they benefited form the social function of sitting down to a meal together: all of these aspects were important to people whose life on the streets had meant that they rarely ate a proper meal, let alone cooked it, or did so in company. With the backing of DMT training, we were able to help J to continue this project and expand it to include growing many of their ingredients: he established an organic vegetable garden on site, producing a varied, healthy, economic meal for approximately ten residents on a weekly basis. At around this time, we were able to secure a number of volunteer places for our service users at the Eden Project in the horticultural area, working towards recognised qualifications. J was an obvious candidate for this scheme and was soon attending twice a week and enjoying it immensely. J was now ready to move on: he was managing his finances successfully, paying his top-ups regularly, keeping his room in good shape, keeping himself well-fed and healthy and interacting well with his neighbours. He had kept himself clean of drugs, had his alcohol consumption well under control and had stayed on the right side of the law. He was also seeing his children regularly and had established a working relationship with his ex-partner, enabling him to play a role in his children’s up-bringing. We believed J to be an ideal candidate for a local landlord sympathetic to our client profile and were successful in placing him in a flat nearby, where he could keep in touch with our support team and call on their support if the need arose. We offered both J and his new landlord a “safety net”, whereby, if the tenancy did not work out, J could return to Cosgarne Hall: while this offer was a key to persuading the landlord to give J the chance he needed to prove himself, the safety net was never required and J has proved to be the good tenant we believed he would be. As a result of this first experience of taking on one of our service users proving to be successful, that landlord has since taken on several more, so far without any serious problems. Shortly after J moved into his new home, we were delighted to learn that the Eden Project, impressed by his commitment and standard of work, had offered him a full time position, which he had readily accepted. |
| Not all our Client Histories are quite so successful and sometimes it is a case of "if at first you don't succeed . . . " This is a story in two parts. Hopefully there will not be a third. Part 1 In December, R appeared at our doorstep, having driven from Camborne in the desperate hope of accommodation. R had been involved in a domestic incident with his wife and due to there being young children involved, he had been excluded from the marital home until he appeared in court in the New Year. R is an alcoholic and, with no other family or friends to whom to turn, he had had no option but to sleep in his car. That was bad enough in the middle of winter, but he realised it that was only a matter of time before he would be arrested for being in charge of a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and then he would be out in the cold. For someone who had never had to sleep rough before, the prospect of living on the streets over Christmas in freezing winter weather, was very depressing and the only solace he could find was in a bottle. Although we had no immediate vacancies, we realised that, without a roof over R’s head, what had been a relatively minor domestic incident could easily escalate into a major crisis if we couldn’t help. The decision was made to accommodate R in our emergency room until a vacancy arose and R stayed with us and was supported through his personal crisis until the case was heard in January. During that time, he was able to get his problems in perspective, bring his drinking under control and prepare for his day in court so that he presented as well as possible. After the court appearance, R was allowed back to the marital home and was reunited with his family with no serious conviction to his name. Although his stay with us was short, it gave R the opportunity to get a grip on his life and prevent it falling to pieces completely. Without a roof over his head, R could, and most probably would, have gone into a downward spiral of alcohol and depression, accompanied by more and worse offending, leading to a situation from which it would have been far more difficult for him to recover and get back to the relatively (for an alcoholic) normal, independent life with is family which he now enjoys. Part 2 Unfortunately, almost a year later, R was back. Again his drinking had taken control of his life, he had a row with his wife and he was homeless once more. And again he spent Christmas at Cosgarne Hall. But again his visit was a short one. Within the supportive regime of Cosgarne Hall, he was able to come to terms with his problems, reduce his dependence on alcohol and put his life back in some form of order. With help from his Key Worker and his Probation Officer (we frequently work as part of a team with other relevant agencies), he was able to find somewhere to live in private rented accommodation. This time he moved on to a new home on his own. Where this will lead remains to be seen. We hope he will not be back with us again next Christmas, but, if he does need us again, he knows that we’ll be here for him. |
| Sadly, drinking is a common theme among our clients. Unlike other addictive drugs, not only is it legal and freely available at relatively modest cost, but there is an entire industry out there promoting it. For some people, that is too much to handle. Our job is to help those whose lives have been taken over by alcohol, to try to take control of their lives again.
S is a 46-year-old lady with a history of alcohol misuse. Her alcohol intake had been a constant theme throughout her life: she became a secret drinker, hiding her alcohol around the house. She was drinking one and a half bottles of Vodka every day and was also working 4 night shifts per week. Her drinking would start once the rest of the family left for school and work. S had been involved with CADA for 5 to 6 years, going through a detox at Liskeard Community Hospital for two weeks, then completing a PODS programme. She then spent 16 weeks in Rehab in Chy Colom. About six months later, we received a referral from a CADA social worker on her behalf: she was homeless as a result of a relationship breakdown and had started to drink again. When we rang to invite her for an assessment, she told us she had taken an overdose of Paracetamol and had ‘phoned for an ambulance. For several months after she entered Cosgarne Hall, she continued drinking heavily, not eating properly and taking no interest in doing anything. She hardly engaged at all with the support provided, but her Key Worker is a very determined lady who does not give up easily, so she persevered. S was very depressed: she had been suffering from depression for quite some time after a back injury at work, exacerbated by a car accident. She had had two operations, which had led her to limited physical ability and a dropped right foot. She was locked into a downward spiral of depression, apathy and alcohol. Eventually, afte agreeing to go with her, her Key Worker was able to persuade her to see a local GP who prescribed a course of anti-depressants. With our support and advice, she applied for DLA which she received, and this helped her to pay for transport to get to appointments and to see her children, which in turn helped her to start to rebuild bridges with her family. Throughout her stay at Cosgarne Hall, S was encouraged to reduce her alcohol intake. Although reluctant to make the effort to go to alcohol counselling off-site, she was persuaded to attend the Addaction CADA group sessions and one to one counselling which had become available on-site at Cosgarne Hall due to an Innovation and Development grant from the Supporting People Team. This was just the beginning of a long road for S – one which others have trodden before and will do in the future, so long as we are able to sustain this service on-site (our grant long ago ran out). It is not an easy road, and although she went from strength to strength, like many others do, several times she slipped backwards. Each time, however, with encouragement and support from her Key Worker, she would pick herself back up and try again. Her Key Worker also encouraged S to attend Pathways, an agency who could help her with courses to enable her, when the time was right, to find a different job to suit her physical problems. S is now on the waiting list for IT training. S has not been able to stop drinking completely but now has her drinking under control: she manages a number of alcohol free days and on others does not touch any alcohol before six in the evening. Eventually, S felt ready to leave Cosgarne Hall and we helped her to find a private rented flat in Liskeard, so that she could be near her children. Because her ex-partner had been in the forces, we were able to enlist the help of the British Legion, who provided the deposit and 4 weeks rent in advance which she needed to secure the flat and helped her to buy the things she needed to set up her new home. Before S left Cosgarne Hall, we were able to secure an offer of floating support so that she would not be left to fend entirely on her own when she no longer had our support and so, when the big day came for her to move into her new home, she did so with the knowledge that floating support was in place, where she could find the local Pathways office and that her records had been transferred there ahead of her arrival. S also had a CADA counsellor to see at her new GP’s surgery. We also provided her family with advice and information for their own use in order to come to terms with her dependency. She continues to report progress to her Key Worker here by telephone and her children now come and stay with her at weekends. |
| Single people are our usual fare, but this case history relates to a couple: S (male, 25 years old) and C (female, 32 years old). S & C were referred to Cosgarne Hall by staff from St. Petroc’s Society, who had known them for a number of years while they were living on the streets.
S had been street homeless since the age of 14, when he ran away from home. He had a traumatic upbringing, was a regular truant from school and was subjected to some severe physical abuse at home. He had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder as a child and by the time of his admission to Cosgarne Hall, S was a chronic alcoholic, a significant substance misuser, and had been diagnosed as Hepatitis C positive. C had been living on the streets for nearly 8 years. Although previously employed in a university, she had developed a drug habit which had cost her her career and led to a life of unemployment and homelessness, where her drug habit became steadily worse with every passing day in a vicious downward spiral. She had also become a chronic alcoholic. St. Petroc’s staff had tried to entice S & C into supported - or any - accommodation in order to start them on the road to stability on many occasions, but previously without success. It was, therefore, vital that we built on the success that their outreach workers had now achieved after years of patient effort, that we won S & C’s trust as quickly as possible, convinced them that they had done the right thing, and did not lose them back to the streets and a very uncertain, but probably short, future. Several months of constant and patient encouragement and prompting followed, as we got to know them and they us and mutual trust was built. This was not an easy process and more than once we despaired of ever succeeding: years of living on the streets, trusting nobody, had ingrained certain attitudes and behaviour towards “authority figures” in both of them, and this pattern was not easy to break. The relationship was pretty stormy on several occasions, especially with S, but, gradually, we and they made progress towards our common goal. The fact that S & C were not prohibited from drinking on the premises, and knew that they could confide in our staff about their drugs use without fear of adverse consequences (so long as they did not use on our premises, which is strictly prohibited), were key factors in this process. Once we had won their trust, we were able to persuade them to engage with an applied social skills programme. This included, but was not restricted to, their individual and joint behaviours, substance misuse and alcohol intake. During this time, both S & C engaged with the drugs team, with the support and encouragement of their Key-workers. They were given a holding script and received counselling from their drugs CPNs. C also received remedial therapeutic counselling from a specialist counsellor to deal with her personal issues. A great deal of joint work was undertaken between the drugs CPNs (both S & C had different CPN’s) and the Alcohol CPN, with the constant encouragement and support of their Key-workers: together, we made a powerful team. After some 12 months of intensive support work (no clients had ever taxed our resources to quite the same degree as these two), S & C were in a contemplative stage and agreed to undergo Hospital detox. It is difficult to describe what a major step this was for them, after so many years of chaotic living, drug and alcohol dependence and resistance to any form of engagement: for these two people to have achieved so much, to have found the inner strength to fight their past and win, was truly awesome. And for us to be privileged to have been a part of it, was a very humbling experience. The detox process, however, required some significant management from all the agencies involved and the local Hospital short stay ward, because they would be unable to be together for two weeks. It is hard to over-emphasise the importance of the mutual support that had come form their relationship: through thick and thin, they had always had each other and now they were to be separated, which was a daunting prospect, so it was vital to keep that period of separation as short as possible. During week 1, S went into hospital detox on the Monday, he was successfully detoxed and discharged on the Friday. Over the weekend he was accommodated in another room from the one he had been sharing with C and it was crucial that contact at this time did not undo the success of the previous week, but instead gave C the encouragement she needed to take her turn. On the following Monday, C went into Hospital detox. This too was successful and C was discharged sober on the Friday. S & C continued to stay sober (and still are). Many sighs of relief were breathed all round! During their time with us, they both lost some very close friends who still lived on the streets. This seriously affected their behaviour and their ability to cope and we feared that such events could derail them. Much to their credit, they did not relapse into alcohol dependency, nor did they use street drugs. There was, however, a great deal of staff input from several Key-workers. During this time, both S & C reduced their individual drugs replacement therapy with the help of their CPN’s and our support staff, working together as a team. An ongoing issue for S was his Hepatitis C status. His consultant began a programme of Interferon and S from time to time struggled with the side effects of the medication. And, to complicate matters, just after S began his course of medication, C discovered she was pregnant. This was a happy occurrence for both of them – and for us – but created further issues: Cosgarne Hall is hardly an ideal place for a pregnant woman, and clearly unsuitable for a mother with a young child. It was vital, therefore, that we find them somewhere more permanent to live, but they were hardly every landlord’s dream of the ideal tenants! Our role is to stop people being homeless, not to put them on the streets, so eviction is alien to our nature. However, in this case, it was a weapon in our arsenal which could be used to our clients’ advantage and so, after the first trimester, we gave S & C their notice to quit. This enabled them to be eligible for housing from the Local Authority. When their month’s notice was up, S & C moved initially into Bed & Breakfast accommodation arranged by Restormel BC (where we were able to continue to support them) and, 2 months later, into a 1-bed flat. In due course, C gave birth to a baby boy, eight weeks premature and hardly in the best of health. Indeed, given his parents’ lifestyles and history of drug and alcohol use, it was a miracle that he was alive at all. Several months of hospital care ensured, however, that the baby survived. S & C were then offered a house by Ocean Housing – somewhere where they could start family life, just like any “normal” young couple. They are still together, sober and substance free and they sometimes pop in to Cosgarne Hall, together with their little boy, to let us know how they are getting on. S is now on a long term training programme and C is looking after their child. This is more than just a story about Cosgarne Hall’s support for the couple, because we could not have achieved this outcome on our own: it demonstrates what can be done when several agencies work together. St. Petroc’s achieved the first success, in persuading C & S to come to Cosgarne Hall; we then won their trust and were able to persuade them to engage with the various people in the NHS who became involved in rehabilitating them and to support them through that period; finally, the Housing Options Team worked with us to find them a permanent home, provided by Ocean Housing. Happily, we find that most agencies in Cornwall are more than willing to work alongside us to provide an integrated service for our clients. There remain, sadly, some “professionals” who regard Housing Support Workers in all projects (not just ours – we hear exactly the same story from even the longest established and most highly regarded supported housing providers) as less than their equal and so tend to be dismissive of our views. However, they are a shrinking minority, and we and many others involved in this field, are constantly working to correct this attitude, for the benefit of our mutual clients. |
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