A homeless woman who lives in a bus shelter with her mother and boyfriend says it is much safer than being housed in a temporary accommodation scheme with drug addicts.
Destiny Mitchell, a 26-year-old woman with autism, says the trio have been living in a disused bus shelter in Selly Oak, Birmingham, for seven months. They chose the temporary shelter over the emergency accommodation offered by the council out of concern for safety and separation from their flatmates. To make their accommodation more habitable, they have furnished themselves with a carpet, drawers and curtains. They have also received support from benefactors who have provided garden chairs, a bin and sleeping bags. They are even using tape and cardboard to patch leaks in the roof and walls of the shelter.
The trio previously slept in a doorway at a Greggs bakery but were forced to move to the bus station after police sent them on. She said: “When we found this place, it was my idea to create this living space”.
“I have been homeless on and off for two years. One time our tent burned down. I’m from Wolverhampton and I had a flat but then bad things happened and I had to leave it and became homeless. Then we came to Selly Oak. I saw this bus stop not being used anymore. It was cold and it started to rain. We had to put tape on the roof to stop the rain coming in. The students helped me tape the windows, I got a dresser and a rug. The family will now have to move out after Transport for West Midlands announced it would demolish the bus shelter in the next few weeks”.
“They said we had one month left then they would destroy it. I’ve lived here for so long, I don’t want them to destroy my house, we have nowhere else to live. If the council doesn’t help us, we will try to move to another bus stop,” she added.
Support charity Trident Reach say they are trying to work with the family to help them get off the streets. A spokesperson said, “Our teams are aware of the couple and have tried to work with them to find suitable accommodation. Unfortunately, they have turned down accommodation as there is not currently any in the area they would prefer.”
Comments
0 comment