Almost There 2.

Almost There 2. A continuation of the journey.

Yesterday I related a tale that many would consider most comical were it not so serious in the way the situation is affecting my elderly friends and neighbours, making us all ill when we have enough problems to cope with in life without constant grief from those that are paid to help us lead a safe secure life in so called supported housing.

Oh I do so apologize!

Genesis Housing Association do not give us grief, I slipped up big time there, didn’t I?

Genesis Housing Association gives us nothing, nothing at all! They do not even talk to us! We know they do not listen to us, we have been shouting at them so long now. I wonder if they know we are here even. I wonder how loudly they would scream if we stopped paying them?

We are getting nothing from them, people are put away on a regular basis for conning elderly citizens, and we now consider this to be a major con, a legal one at that too it would appear!

They can charge us whatever they see fit and we have to pay up without question, but they promise nothing in return and appear to have no intention of doing so either!

Wondering what I am talking about? Try some of these;

(From their own publications!)

1. “Answer at least 90% of calls within four rings (16 seconds)….in our experience that rarely happens!

2. “give our name”………we have had to ask each and every time!

3. “greet you in a polite and pleasant way,”…………civil at best!

4. “call you back if asked”………has not happened to now, in fact a number of repeat calls have left us wondering why we bothered!

5. “Give you our direct number”……..no one there has done so to date!

‘Voice Mail’ messages…..widely used by managers and staff but never replied to, i.e. no call back!

Letters, hum well, no one here has ever had any letter acknowledged within two working days, and, come to think about it, there is no one here that has had any letter answered in full at any time whatsoever, let alone within ten days!

We are just a little beyond ‘texting’ here, arthritis and stiffening joints tend to get in the way so we do not practice it, so we can claim no experience of text messages to or from Genesis!

E-mails, well we do have that little box labelled ‘Contact us’ on the Genesis Web Page, but, yet again, no one here has ever received any kind of acknowledgement, neither automated nor any other kind.(But it will be interesting to see what happens when I post a link to this blog there!)

Now six full months since Genesis took control and not one promise of improved service has been fulfilled!

It is without doubt a far worse service than we received from your predecessors, Springboard, and that is truly something we never ever imagined as being possible, but we were wrong again, weren’t we?

It is the same as us believing Genesis was going to listen to us, wrong again!

You have ’taken control’, and we feel our lives are ‘out of control’!

I am blogging this publicly simply because you have, as an organization, proved to be so totally uncommunicative and unresponsive, refusing to talk, refusing to meet, refusing to listen, refusing to even acknowledge our very existence!

I have to ask; “Is there anyone out there?”

I ask you again, Genesis, are you listening?
Or perhaps your organization would be better named ‘Exodus’!

Then we would all appreciate being advised to “abandon all hope all ye who would enter here!”

Are you listening Genesis?

In the days of Springboard I did ask a group of managers if they would ever consider moving into ‘Supported Housing’ run by them? The reply........great hilarity! The very thought was so totally ridiculous!

This is exactly the very mindset that absolutely must be changed!

When your staff and managers make every effort to make Genesis Housing schemes the places that they themselves would be happy to retire to then, and only then, will you have an organization you can all be proud of!

Almost There.

Almost there! Where?

The end of life's very rough old journey is where!

A journey largely enjoyed, often misdirected, frequently faulty, and full of missed opportunities.

It was also full lessons that never have stopped coming, and just now I am truly wishing the 'Great Teacher' would consider a break!

My current situation is that of living in a lovely community, some lovely nieghbours, and in what could be a truly great building in a very nice little old town in Essex.(UK). But, unfortunately, I and my nieghbours dare not get together! We cannot chat, say hi, or meet over  a coffee without our blood pressures going through the roof!

We are all of 'a certain age', no one may live here without reaching the qualifying age of fifty-five, so I think it is safe to say the majority of us have one or two ailments we have developed on our journey here, and our blood pressures are not the most stable.

Most of the residents bought their properties here in the belief that they would be moving into a safe secure environment, supported in their latter days. (Please remember that word 'supported'!) 

The properties are all leasehold with a size able service charge levied to cover management and maintenance, which is payable either monthly or annually along with an additional Ground Rent charge.Not cheap, but one generally considered to be worth while IF the 'service' is provided. Which, to date, it has not!

And that my friends, is where our health warning comes in!

Opened in 1988 it was every pensioner's utopia! Resident staff wardens, numerous staff, luncheon meal service, coffee mornings and social evenings. Never a dull moment almost.

Now we have one senior support worker, and one part time support worker. No meals. No cleaners. The support worker is the cleaner, the senior support worker finds his days almost totally taken up with forms, reports and returns, about 98% of which have little of no relevance to this building or it's occupants.

With no maintenance being provided and now we find that the support workers are not allowed to support any of us in an emergency, (Health and Safety, theirs!) we do feel so grieved as to ask 'What the hell are we paying for???

That is the question that gets us old folk so worked up. We worked all our lives to get here, and now find we are funding a bunch of total waste of space time wasters for the privilege of being here!

The leaseholders recently paid for the lifts in the building to be refurbished. That was following a lengthy battle with Springboard who initially wanted to renew them both, and then again for a well known reputable lift company to do the works, who we, the leaseholders, trusted, their having maintained them for years with no major problem, that following a period when the lifts were breaking down almost on a weekly basis.

While that refurbishment was under way a leak was found that was not covered by the current works order. No problem one may say. Not so!

The company, Genesis Housing Association, now managing the building would not issues a works order number because "the lifts are going to be replaced in the near future!"

Er....yes....what...come again?

So, our lift was refurbished and finished up being unusable for about three weeks or so! 

But those lifts did have a 12 month warranty on the works that had been done.

But then Genesis decide our company is too expensive and without a word of warning, sack our choice, for maintenance, employ their own, and yes, the lift now break down on a regular basis once  more, usually after a maintenance session!

So who worries? Not it would seem, Genesis! I mean, it is not their money, is it?

I could go on, but not today. Maybe tomorrow, my blood pressure will be back to normal, hopefully,there is much more to tell, I have barely scraped the surface here, so good friends, watch this space, come on by soon now.