I often think that working with clients to help them resolve an issue can be compared to opening a Matryoshka Doll Set- just as you take apart the first doll there is another inside it and so can it be with our clients who initially present one issue during an advice appointment, but it is connected to a myriad number of others in their lives.
A female client whom I’ll call Ngor, was a regular visitor to the Centre. She would use the showers, was always pleasant, respectful, thankful, clean, well-presented and carrying her rucksack. Sometimes, when entering the main Servery area where the clients sit, I would hear her before I saw her.
I first met her in October of 2024, and she told me an unfortunate account of her housing history. She was born abroad, had subsequently married and lived with her husband in his country before coming to England. At some stage her husband’s family found her a place to stay and she lived there for a while before leaving. Her reasons for leaving, as far as I could ascertain, was because she thought the place was haunted. She may have spent time in a Psychiatric Hospital too, but this wasn’t clear as her story was disjointed and muddled in places.
A nearby local Authority had secured accommodation for her via their rent deposit scheme, but she had left that property for similar reasons to the previous one and now, at the time of my first interview with her, was street homeless. Street homelessness is less visible amongst women, whom are more susceptible to danger on the streets than men and so often have to hide away in places because of their vulnerability – even sitting up in a public area which stays open late, such as a hospital waiting room, rather than lying down to sleep in the street because it is safer. One consequence of sitting up so much is that one can develop swollen legs.
Ngor was now visiting family members to get washed and collect her laundry. She would take long rides on public transport and sleep at a police station or a hospital waiting room. She showed me her feet which were now giving her trouble and for which she had received medical attention, because her shoes weren’t designed for walking as much as she had been, neither were they to be worn for hours. She consequently had to buy more appropriate footwear as a matter of urgency. So, the next time I saw her, she requested shopping vouchers because she had exhausted her benefits travelling to a women centre which is open 24 hours.
Later the next month she called me to say that she would not be visiting the Centre as she was in hospital following a fall. She missed a couple of appointments with me which was unusual and I could not reach her. She reappeared a couple of months later to my relief and delight, she was alright, but still homeless. I completed a night shelter referral and another to Streetlink.
For those who have never made a Streetlink referral, the purpose of it is to alert Homeless Outreach workers to the presence of a street homeless person, by submitting their description and location where they “bed down”, so that the workers can identify them and find them accommodation. Ngor’s referral was not easy! One question asked which bus routes they used and Ngor named about seven plus the place that she often slept in!
To my complete astonishment, Ngor was located by Streetlink four days later and she was placed in temporary accommodation. I had heard so many complaints about Streetlink previously, chiefly that they were difficult to reach by telephone and when they did encounter homeless people, the follow-up appointments seldom happened. I was relieved that Ngor was off the Streets, could lie down safely at night and give her feet a chance to heal. She also told me that she was studying and as she had worked before, wanted to do so again.
Yesterday, there was an abrupt knock at the Office door, I opened it to behold Ngor with her Ruck sack and two cases. “Don’t tell me you’ve left the temporary accommodation” I said. She replied that she had. My heart sank. She told me that after she had been there for some days, she had over- heard two people talking about putting her in a bag. She had also seen a blood stain on the door when she had initially arrived and she had decided that she should leave. She had come to see if I could find her a place. “But if I do, you’ll do this again” I said in despair. “No, I won’t” she replied.
We were due to close for the day, so I tried calling the hotel that she had come from and the Case worker who had placed her there, without success. I suggested that she attend the council office in person and ask for assistance as she already had a Caseworker with them. I sent an email to the Caseworker too, asking for help to find her alternative temporary accommodation. Just before leaving for the day, I saw a response from the Caseworker, stating that she had managed to source alternative temporary accommodation for Ngor but as it involved an element of sharing, Ngor had declined it.
So Ngor is back to being homeless, her proclivities and periods of being unreachable, having lengthened the journey. Her phone is not connecting at present; doubtless we shall meet again.