Our 50 year old uncle has come back to town. He’s here until his sister’s estate is settled. Due to the complete venality, stupidity and laziness of his surviving sisters, the estate business was left to me and my two cousins. My uncle is schizophrenic and an alcholic. He came to NY from Washington state, where he has lived for the past decade. In a tent. He plans to go back where his wife also lives (not in his tent in the woods though).
The problem is that he cannot care for himself. In Washington the state handled his money and his wife made sure he ate and didn’t kill anyone. He spent one day at the condo his sister owned. We got a call from management that very night. He stood in the vestibule all night long, drinking and cursing the other residents.
He is delusional when he doesn’t take his meds. He can be violent when he drinks. He never takes his meds and he will steal beer from the corner store if he is not given money. He hears voices “They’re not all bad,” he’ll tell you.
Both my cousins and I have children. He cannot be trusted alone with children. We are now trying to get him into the HRA system where there are facilities for homeless people with his problem. The real problem is the wait. Until there is a bed available in a MICA shelter, he will be put into a general pop shelter where, my cousins and I are sure, he’ll end up either dead or in jail.
Does anyone have any experience dealing with the mentally ill? Is there anything we can do to calm his paranoia? Are there ways of making sure he takes his meds? Is there any other choice for him but the streets?
