One of our support workers shares a case study of one of his clients that is currently rough sleeping:
‘The plight of people sleeping rough is talked about daily and is probably done so quite trivially, but most of us could not even comprehend one night of actual rough sleeping. Having recently seen the experiences of one of my service users I had a sudden realization myself on how difficult it may actually be.
C had his own flat, there were ongoing problems with a neighbor and he constantly felt under pressure to engage with his housing officers, despite these difficulties he lived at the flat and had a bed to sleep in every night. C knew for several months that this arrangement was coming to an end and made efforts to source alternative accommodation, however was met with barriers due to previous tenancies and not conforming to the expectations of the support package he was under. C found it difficult to motivate himself to deal with this issue and was entangled in his own day to day existence. After a short spell in prison he came out to see that the housing association had taken possession of the flat through the courts and he was left homeless. C has some family support, but he has stayed with them previously and doesn’t want to take his troubles and disturb the quiet peace the children in the family might enjoy. C is acquainted with those who will cause him more harm than good so staying with friends was out of the question, the inevitable next move was to rough sleep.
I came to know of C’s predicament one hot morning when I saw him in town. He looked pale and was physically shaking from the withdrawal of alcohol. He said this is probably the worst situation he’s ever encountered in life. The hot summer nights and the fact that he had no access to clean clothes had taken its toll in the few days out on the streets. He acknowledged himself that he didn’t feel comfortable walking into an enclosed space for the smell that his clothing gave off.
A disused shelter behind a block of new apartments is where he calls home at the moment. The seasons are on his side and it’s fairly warm. Its close enough to the town centre to access the amenities yet remote and secluded enough to ensure he’s not woken and moved on at the crack of dawn. I went to C’s shelter to outreach for him and whilst I didn’t find him I saw how he was living. There was a mattress and a duvet which covered his possessions. I could only see a pair of shoes out of the side of the duvet and the rest appeared to be a pile of clothes. I was curious, but at the same time I realized that I was in his personal space. Being there was an intrusion of his space, let alone picking things up and looking at his belongings, so I left him a note and walked away. Inside his shelter there was also a small pile of scrap metal including an old microwave. Despite his adversity C is still very resourceful and obviously will not let homelessness interfere in his sideline of earning cash by selling scrap metal.
C realizes that being outdoors is detrimental to his failing health; however he is also aware that getting accommodation is not going to be straight forward. Recent case law has been favorable to the cause of single homeless people; however there are many other obstacles that he must overcome to get accommodation. We will continue to support him and motivate him to achieve the aspirations he has despite the hardships along the way.’