SUPPORTED HOUSING

The Alan Carter interview

Alan is it true that you are a self confessed alcoholic and have been for many years?

yes

Have you ever been in prison?

yes, on several occasions

Can you tell me what happened the last time you came out of prison and how you got the flat you have now.

"Well, when I came out of prison, I went to the flat I had before I was sent to prison and was told by the council I no longer had it. From there I went into a hostel (St Mungo's, Covent Garden) after about ten months I was given a flat in Greenwich. I got everything I needed for the flat, but started to have a really bad time with neighbor's and because I had no after-care support from the hostel I had been in, things started to deteriorate, and my drinking began to get heavier. I was then given another flat because I was then classed as being vulnerable, but that didn't last long. It was only in my third flat that I was one day summoned to the council offices to discuss why I had not paid any rent and to discuss my rent arrears. They could see I was in no fit state to keep a flat but gave me the address of a drug and alcohol advice charity(Dash) and arranged for someone to come and see me. When they came they saw the state of the flat and that I had no electric and hadn't had any for sometime. They got on to all the agencies concerned and got things moving. They also helped clean my flat which took a couple of days. Then, they found out the flat was not fit to live in. So once again I had to be moved to another flat and now I have been in my new flat for two and a half years. I still meet with people from the Dash agency but now only occasionally. I am grateful to them for the help they gave me.

Do you see yourself keeping the flat even though you are still an alcoholic?

Of course. I know if I run in to difficulty I can ask them for help.

This is just one of the examples I shall be investigating, where supported housing was needed in the very first instance of this man getting a flat.