Jim & Tim

Wednesday, 18 February 2009 00:00

Usually a success story is told by using only one resident; however this story could not be told without the mentioning of another. The residents involved are twins Jim and Tim. When Jim had a stroke, he suffered some paralysis and brain damage; it left him unable to work or earn income to obtain any type of housing. Jim and Tim lived together thus leaving them both in need of emergency shelter. When they came to the shelter we had two beds open but this was a big change for them because they had only lived in the private sector housing; not dependent on any type of assistance. The first thing that staff noticed was how much help Tim provided for Jim; making sure his personal hygiene was taken care of and that he could maneuver around the shelter safely. He was also present anytime his brother had appointments with direct service staff in the shelter.

The GC case management team began working on obtaining the twins public house. After two months of searching, the call finally came that there was an opening with Charleston-Kanawha Housing. The twins quickly checked things out and signed a lease.  

March 7, 2009, the twins will be moving out of the Giltinan Center with the assistance of our Aftercare Specialist; with whom which they have signed and dated documents that they want to participate in our Aftercare Program for up to six months.  The Aftercare Specialist will be work closely with them throughout this transition to make it as smooth as possible.