Exploring Homelessness

Transcription

1 Exploring ness Resource 1.6 Provide each group with one of the below cards. Mother of 4 Male, age 20 (unemployed) Girl, age 10 Mother, age 19 Male, age 56 Male, age 22 A single mother of 1 A 65-year-old man Female, age 41 Female, age 32 Male, age 27

2 Facts About ness Resource 1.7 FACTS ABOUT HOMELESSNESS In 2017, the number of homeless people in Northern Ireland had risen by 32 percent in the previous five years. In , 18,573 households presented as being homeless. The top two reasons for presenting as homeless were unreasonable accommodation and family or sharing problems. figures for April June 2017 showed that 32.7 percent were families and 31.5 percent were single males. ness levels in Northern Ireland are disproportionately higher than in other parts of the UK. A street count in 2015 indicated that an average of six people sleep rough each night in Belfast. Not all street drinkers are rough sleepers or homeless. does not necessarily mean that the person is sleeping rough. They could be sofa surfing or staying in a hostel, bed and breakfast or other temporary accommodation.

3 Voices of the We had to move out of our home because we were in arrears with the rent... at the moment we are in a bed and breakfast... five of us are living in one room... My son doesn t want to come home from school as he finds it too stressful... this feels like a prison... the kids don t have any friends... they can t go out so they end up fighting with each other... it does my head in and then I shout at them... all I want is a home for us (Mother of 4) I used to live with my father, but he died last year. I couldn t afford the rent on our flat so I stayed with my girlfriend. When we broke up I ended up sleeping rough some nights I can get a place in a hostel, but mostly I sleep in parks and doorways. Male, 20, unemployed) We didn t go to school for four months. We lived in seven different houses and changed schools six times. I hate moving house because I keep having to make new friends. (Girl, 10) 1 of 5

4 Voices of the I was nearly eight months pregnant when I became homeless. My mum and I were not getting on and she asked me to leave. I had nowhere else to turn. For the rest of my pregnancy I moved between family and friends houses. My aunt agreed to let me stay with her after I had my baby. However, it did not work out. There was not enough room in her flat for us, which led to tensions. Over a two-month period, I found myself sofa surfing with my newborn baby. During this time, I was tired, stressed and felt completely helpless. (Mother, 19) I became homeless when my marriage broke up. I was struggling to pay the mortgage on the family home and bills in the new flat I was renting. I was falling further and further behind on all my bills. I became depressed and began drinking day and night. I stopped going into work and eventually lost my job. The family home was repossessed and I was evicted from my flat. With nowhere else to turn, I went to a local hostel but they turned me away as it was for women only. I was left with no other option but to camp in a park for six months. (Male, 56) 2 of 5

5 Voices of the I achieved good GCSE marks at school. However, when I was in sixth year I started to get into a lot of trouble. I was going out late at night, drinking and taking drugs and sometimes did not come home for days. My parents could not cope with me as I refused to take their advice or follow their rules. They eventually asked me to leave home, as they were worried about the influence I was having on my brother and sister. For three years, I moved between family, friends and temporary accommodation. My behaviour spiralled completely out of control and I ended up doing a short prison sentence. When released from prison, I had nowhere to go. My family had totally disowned me. I went to the local council and was told I was not classified, as a priority need for housing. Once again, I found myself homeless. (Male, 22) I was homeless for nearly two years, even though I was working. I lived in hotels with my daughter. I dreaded being seen leaving to go to work or take my daughter to school. I had nowhere to cook, so we had to eat takeaway food. (Single mother of 1) 3 of 5

6 Voices of the I have been homeless for over thirty years. I have never drank alcohol, taken drugs or smoked. I was in my thirties when my mum died, I have a disability and had depended on her for everything. Without my mum, I had less money and I was unable to manage the bills as this was something she had taken care of. I felt completely abandoned. I came home one day and the lock on the house had been changed by my landlord. I found myself on the streets with none of my stuff and nowhere to go. Since that day, I have slept on the streets, in hostels and in night shelters. (Male, 65) I have been homeless twice. I had a good life in Aleppo, Syria until war broke out and changed everything. One night of bad shelling, I had to flee my home with my husband and three children for safety, leaving all of our belongings behind. For weeks, we were forced to shelter in abandoned buildings and crowded informal settlements. Eventually we moved to the UK and got refugee status, we were overjoyed. However, in the UK both my husband and I had difficulty getting employment and we were unable to keep up with rent payments. One day bailiffs came to our home and evicted us. We did not know where to go. That night we slept at the entrance of a shopping centre. (Female, 41) 4 of 5

7 Voices of the I lived in a violent marriage for years. I constantly felt scared of my husband, as he was both violent and mentally abusive. I did not feel safe at home and worried about my children. With the help of a friend, my children and I took refuge in a women s shelter. We stayed there in temporary accommodation until I was able to arrange an alternative housing option. (Female, 32) My relationship with my partner broke down and I moved into a ground-floor flat because the deposit was only 100. The property was in bad condition, but the landlord assured me that he was in the process of getting the place redecorated and modernised. However, when I moved in, this never materialised and he kept fobbing me off. The property was damp, and draughts came through all of the windows. My next-door neighbour had lots of cats, which produced a very unsanitary smell. After moving into the flat my health deteriorated. The flat was impossible to heat in the winter and the cold and damp made my asthma worse. I had no choice but to move out, and ended up sleeping on a friend s floor until I got a space in a hostel. (Male, 27) 5 of 5