‘I don’t have anything left’: Housing situation precarious for single dad with autistic son

Greyson attends Vedder Elementary, so dad is looking for anywhere on a bus route that will allow him to drop off and pick up his son to school. O’Neill does not drive and relies on public transportation for routine activities, such as commuting to work, grocery shopping, etc.

The father-son duo live in a modest hotel in Chilliwack after being evicted from their previous home. O’Neill explained that in their previous rental he had made an honest mistake, which had cost him the roof over their heads.

Image: L. Gomes / PML / O’Neill and his son currently live in a hotel room until July 15.

“There was a plastic pipe in the wall going outside to the tap for the hose,” he said. “And I had used a stud finder to find the strongest point on the wall to hang a picture up.”

Unfortunately, O’Neill had missed the stud by a quarter inch.

“There was a gradual leak that just destroyed the floor,” he said. “It wasn’t done maliciously or on purpose or anything, it was a simple mistake.”

O’Neill has tenant insurance, and the insurance company paid for the damages as well as the temporary hotel stay.

“The insurance company is covering it right now,” O’Neill said of the hotel stay. Without a proper kitchen the two are forced to eat out, almost everyday. “I don’t have anything left; I am absolutely broke until the next paycheque.”

O’Neill said that he has been searching feverishly for a place to rent, with no success.

“I’ve been declined five different places now,” he said. “I’m in a situation where I’ve got a week to find a place to live or I’ll be living with my parents. Grey won’t be able to be here because it’s a 45+ community.”

O’Neill explained that the insurance company pays for the room until July 15.

Greyson presently goes to two group homes twice a week and sees a behavioural interventionist on Tuesdays.

Zack Leblanc-Betsch is Greyson’s behavioural interventionist and has been working with the child for almost a year now.

“He’s a really sweet and smart kid,” Leblanc-Betsch said. “He’s always challenging himself to find more information or accomplish his small athletic goals, and it’s awesome to see him achieve them.”

Echoing O’Neill’s sentiments, the support worker added that with Greyson’s foundations in place, the almost fourth grader is showing signs of progress.

O’Neill stressed that, as a parent to a special-needs child, he is working overtime to ensure that Greyson’s success is not compromised by the move.

“Honestly, at this point I am scared,” he said. “I don’t want to be separated from my Grey; he has come such a long way in the last little while, and I don’t want to uproot him again.”

With July 15 on the horizon, O’Neill said he is currently sitting on multiple declined applications, trying to navigate the best course of action for his son.

“I’m not asking for handouts,” he said. “I’m doing everything I can, but it’s not enough.”

by Laurice Gomes

‘I don’t have anything left’: Housing situation precarious for single dad with autistic son

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