We met Sebastian (real name not used) on the streets. He was sleeping rough after fleeing his flat.
Sebastian had moved into his flat at the start of the year. He’d been homeless for a long time and was really happy to move into a place of his own. His little flat was in a large house with a few other flats and a shared communal entrance hall.
Experiencing hate.
Sebastian had tried to make friends with the people in the
neighbouring flats. He introduced himself and invited them around his flat
anytime for a cup of tea. But, his neighbours never took up his offer.
Instead, he noticed his neighbours acting coldly towards
him. They called out racial slurs when he walked through the shared entrance
hall. He felt unwelcome and afraid.
Sebastian wanted to contact the police. However, he had just
moved into his flat and was happy to have a roof over his head. He was worried
that the neighbours might work out that he’d contacted the police and things
would get worse, so he didn’t call them.
Fleeing his flat.
Unfortunately, things began to worsen anyway. Sebastian came
back to his flat one day to find his door had been egged and racial slurs
written on it.
Feeling unsafe and afraid, Sebastian decided to leave his
flat and began rough sleeping again.
We’re supporting Sebastian to look for somewhere safe to
live. But, he’s uneasy about living in places with communal areas. Single
tenancies without communal areas are hard to come by. The emergency accommodation
on offer would also put Sebastian in close contact with others.
We continue to offer emotional support to Sebastian as he
searches for somewhere to live, free from harm and hate.
To support our work supporting people like Sebastian, find out more about ways to give today.