Homeless man gets a place of his own – after 20 years

When a Nelson man was found slumped unconscious over the steering wheel of his car, the person who found him thought he was dead.

John* had been homeless, living out of his car for several years, when he went into renal failure and fell into a coma while sitting in the driver’s seat.

When a Nelmac worker found him, he called the police, thinking he had come across a dead body.

‘‘I’d been there for two days. It was lucky that the guy saw me slumped over the wheel,’’ John says. ‘‘At first. he thought I was just sleeping, but when he saw me in the same spot the next day, with my dog licking my face, he knew something was wrong.’’

Paramedics were able to revive John, and he was rushed to hospital, where he spent time in intensive care and then underwent dialysis.

‘‘I’m quite a lucky chap – they didn’t expect me to live when I got to the hospital.’’

Since his brush with death in November, John’s life has turned a corner.

‘‘It was a bit of a wakeup call. There were things I wanted to do and people I hadn’t seen for a long time, and I could have ended up dead.’’

After nearly 25 years without a home, he has found a place to live, with support from the Ministry of Social Development and Housing NZ.

‘‘I didn’t know anything about how to get into social housing and some of the things I was entitled to through WINZ, and that is where the Beneficiaries and Unwaged Workers Trust (BUWT) came in.

‘‘If it wasn’t for the help from the great team at BUWT and my case manager from WINZ, I think I would be in the same position, if not worse, or dead.’’

John says he chose a transient lifestyle after a marriage breakup. He spent about 12 years living in a housetruck; it enabled him to travel around the country and take on seasonal work.

But that changed when an intruder broke in one night. He damaged the door and smashed the ignition, and John’s wrist was broken during the scuffle that followed.

John wasn’t able to fix the truck while he was injured, and he couldn’t afford to have it repaired. Then he started getting fines for having no warrant of fitness or registration.

‘‘After I got pulled up a few times, the police told me if I got pulled up again, they would confiscate the vehicle. Everything I had in the world was in there, and being my home, I was between a rock and a hard place.’’

John said he had little choice but to get rid of the truck, and after that he was ‘‘living rough’’, often sleeping underneath bridges across the region. ‘‘About five months living in the street, trying to stay out of the rain . . . it wasn’t the best time of my life, I assure you.’’

He managed to save up enough money to put a deposit on a car, and arranged to pay the rest off over time.

But being homeless was taking a toll on his health, which was noticed by his Work and Income case manager.

John didn’t like the idea of asking for help, but as time went on and his health worsened, he realised something had to change.

‘‘Having the support of the Beneficiaries and Unwaged Workers Trust and having a trusting relationship with me, he became more open to us helping him,’’ the case manager said.

John had been on the waiting list for housing for about a year. After he was discharged from hospital last November, his case manager raised his urgent need for suitable accommodation. Last month, he moved into his new home.

Ministry of Social Development regional commissioner Louise Waaka said it worked with other agencies to find John a suitable home, and a place that met his needs became available in May.

‘‘While having a companion dog did not prevent him accessing public housing, it would have made it difficult for John if he was trying to rent or board in private accommodation, particularly during the highdemand summer months.

‘‘We were pleased when we were told there was a house available, and before the cold weather hit.’’

For John, living in a house for the first time in more than two decades has been ‘‘very different’’. Having the freedom to move around, a kitchen to cook meals in and a space to plant vegetables are some of the things he enjoys the most.

‘‘It is really quite a magic thing; it has been a lot of years since I have been able to grow a garden.’’

He said the BUWT had been ‘‘absolutely magic’’ in providing support and helping him to get set up in his home.

‘‘You would be hard pressed to find a better social support system.

‘‘I ended up being blessed with a good network of people supporting me. so I am one of the lucky ones, but there are many out there that don’t get a break like I have got.’’

John said there were a lot of people in difficult situations who ended up living on the streets.

‘‘There is a real major shortage of housing out there for people who live in the world I came from.

"There is so much need out there; what people see is only the tip of the iceberg.’’

Anyone needing immediate housing support should contact Work and Income on 0800 559 009 to discuss options.

* Name has been changed

‘‘There is a real major shortage of housing out there for people who live in the world I came from . . . what people see is only the tip of the iceberg.’’

Former homeless man John