Saturday, August 20, 2011
My Brother's keeper.
A neighbor friend has lived with his mom for over 20 years. He is slow thinking and I can type faster with two fingers than he can read. His Mom died and the Will stated to sell the house. The man makes 700 a month. he wanted me to buy the house which is appraised at 60k from the high of 180k just three years ago. His bills won't let him make much of a rent payment at all. I feel guilty for not going forward, but... We both admitted that if he moved in with me it would probably wreck our friendship. His family isn't much if any smarter than him and they aren't holding their doors open to him either. I have this feeling he is going to fall through the cracks of society if something isn't done. Any suggestions?
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You don't say how old he is. With the income you state, I'm sure he qualifies for assisted living of some sort, possibly even some assisted care facilities. You can contact social services, I believe they might be located in the big pink building on Taylor where workforce development is.
Depending on his age, his health, whether his dad served our country through the military, and his mental/physical capabilities, there are probably services out there to help him with this transition and his future needs.
He served and is 53(?). He tends to grate on people because of his simpleness, bad teeth, and non stop inanities. I'm deaf so that part doesn't bother me. He really doesn't understand budgeting and math. He managed to get married for awhile and his wife handled all of that. He thinks that if he gets 10k inheritance, he can put it in the bank and live off the interest... He has just enough functionality he can enter contracts. I've never seen him enter a good one though.
Oh yeah. Thanks for the pointers KKD.
If you can, go with him to apply for everything he can get. Start with phone calls to agencies (this could take a couple of days) make appointments and have him with you when you do this. Nothing is more powerful than a friend at your side. You might start by listing all his assets and debts. House, car,bank, etc. All agencies want to know this. Having a doctors certificate saying his low IQ is a big help also. First thing he needs is an address. Things you might try...Food stamps, energy assistance, UC(?), social security, badger care, a job at Goodwill(?).
Huck, Do you suppose he could buy the house from his family somehow? A house that drops that much must have attained some recent flaws. Sad situation. It probably happens often? I don't know much about wills, but perhaps he could speak with the attorney, or whoever Is handling the will, and contest It or something, since he has no place to go?
Don't forget the veteran's service officer. He could be of assistance as well, since your neighbor served. There are some programs out there for vets through the government that are not publicized or widely known.
Phone nos. (tty) veterans affairs 800-829-4833 and social security 800-325-0778
I hope there is some way to have him evaluated. Years ago, an elderly friend of my mom had a stroke. He had no relatives in Wisconsin. No one knew where any were. Anyway, after the stroke, the county (I believe) had a psychologist evaluate him to see if he could care for himself. The psychologist said no and they offered my mom his health care power of attorney and financial power of attorney. She accepted the health care power and the county (I believe - Human Services, probably) hired an attorney out of his funds to take care of his investments.
I knew of a "simple minded" guy in AA. He lived off of assistance or disability or something. Some relative died and he inherited $40,000. That took him off of assistance, so no one was watching over him. Within a year, the money was gone, most of it swindled from him by his sister. Then he was back on assistance until he died.
Vote for Rick Perry, or Michelle Bachmann. (Just a bit of dark, DARK humor)
he's very fortunate to have a caring friend like you. I do not know anything about this stuff but I agree with Sassa, "Nothing is more powerful than a friend at your side", hopefully things will work out and help will be available without having to jump thru too many hoops, best of luck to you both!
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