Teamwork Feels Like ‘Godsend’ for Homeless Senior

No matter how deep your roots on Cape Cod, sometimes all it takes is a small twist of fate to push someone into homelessness. That’s what happened to Carl Weis, who resorted to sleeping in his car at the age of 83.  

His parents spent their teen summers on Cape Cod; his father was a counselor at Camp Monomoy and his mother was a waitress. Many years later in their retirement, they moved to Thirwood Place, an assisted living center in Yarmouth. When their mother became ill in 2002, Carl’s sister, Karen, moved to Cape Cod to help care for her.  

Karen loved living here, but when she was diagnosed with dementia in 2021, it was Carl’s turn to help a family member. They moved into a two-bedroom apartment in Yarmouth in 2022, but two short years later Karen’s health deteriorated, and she soon passed away.  

Because Carl’s name was not on the lease, he had to leave the apartment at the end of the month. “I never dreamed that this kind of thing could happen so quickly,” he said. “Each day that would go by, I was scared to death.”  

At first, he stayed with a friend living in an ADU, but her own health issues made it impossible for him to stay. The evening he left her place, he visited with another friend, hoping to be invited to stay, but instead ended up sleeping in his car. Despite all that, Carl is one to look at every glass as half full. “The sunlight looked so beautiful in the woods my car was facing that it perked me up the next morning,” he said.  

That hope made him go to a social services agency that had helped him previously, and they put him in touch with Patty Alonso, an outreach coordinator in Housing Assistance’s Homeless Services department. She made sure Carl didn’t spend one more night in his car, securing him temporary housing in a Hyannis hotel through our Elderly & Disabled Emergency Housing Program. “That was a godsend,” said Carl.  

Alonso collaborated with a team of counselors and advocates to find long-term housing for Carl in Colony House Apartments in Hyannis, where he’s lived since late September.  

“I’m so grateful for all the work behind the scenes,” he said. “I know there were angels working that helped me land here. It’s just been wonderful. I feel like I’ve landed in a palace.”  

To learn more about our Homeless Services, click here.