We want to share some of the ways our PossABLE Advocates have supported, changed lives and advocated for people with disability. This is *Gary's Story.
*Name changed for confidentiality.
Gary is in his early 40’s with vision impairment, mild intellectual disability and substance use issues. Gary was referred for advocacy by the Campbelltown Mental Health unit. Gary was a voluntary inpatient that was due to be released in the coming days.
Gary was previously living with his mother in a one-bedroom unit, but the relationship broke down due to his substance abuse. Gary could not return to live with his mother and did not have stable accommodation to be released to. Gary also had an NDIS plan which was not being utilised.
The advocate worked with Gary to identify where he could stay once released from the hospital. Gary didn’t want to ask for help from his family and stated he will have to sleep on the streets until he worked out something.
On the day of release, the Advocate met with Gary and organised 4 nights of accommodation through Link2Home in a house in Canley Vale. The advocate kept in close contact with Gary to monitor his mental health and substance use.
The advocate contacted housing while Gary was in temporary accommodation and progressed his existing housing application to priority status. On the final day of the accommodation, the advocate offered to organise more accommodation arrangements. Gary had decided to contact his brother to ask for assistance.
Gary is now living in a unit on his brothers' property and feels he has more purpose in life. He enjoys feeding the livestock and doing chores on the property. Gary has been sober for 6 weeks.
The advocate also worked with the LAC to start utilising Gary’s plan and making connections to services and supports.
