His name is Nick. Please help us.
Donation protected
For nearly a year now I've walked home every night past a man sitting with his dog in a doorway under my building. He didn't beg every person that passed him, he often read and kept to himself and never once made me feel uneasy no matter what time it was.
At Christmas we offered an extra sleeping bag as a gift and we were met with a genuine thanks it made me feel so guilty for ignoring him for so long. Since then we have got to know him and can honestly say he has become a friend. His circumstances are that of pure bad luck but he now finds himself stuck between society and homelessness and we are asking for your help.
To summarise, recently he was offered a place at a hostel in Hackney which meant he was off the streets. He was able to register for benefits (as he had an address) and every day since we have been waiting for him to be processed and he feel a part of society again. In this time, although he has the bed, he doesn’t have any money at all to feed or clothe himself of even sit indoors and read a book as he has to pay for electricity in his bedsit. So despite this he has remained in the doorway everyday trying to just get by whilst he waits. In true bureaucratic style, he has now been processed and due to his ex partners assets, he is considered not eligible and remains trapped between moving forward with his life and ending up back on the streets (he will lose his place at the hostel if the decision isn’t reversed as the government doesn’t consider him in need to assistance).
To see the hope he had, turn to heartbreak is so awful and we are trying to get him back on his feet. He isn’t treated as a person in the system and instead is judged on a column of figures/statistics and all he can do is wait and hope that his assessment is overturned. It could take weeks or months but in the meantime he still doesn’t have a penny to survive. All he wants is to get well and work again (any job!) but without food and basic living, he isn’t strong enough to look for work or look after himself mentally and physically.
This is where we are hoping that collectively, instead of him being treated as another homeless person on the street, or another statistic, or another name that needs to be processed, we treat him as a human being. He is funny, he has pride but also has learnt a lot during this experience. He cries because of his circumstance yet still manages to ask how our days are.
We are trying to raise some money to keep him going whilst we hope the government make the right decision. If we can raise enough to fill his fridge, buy a months worth of electricity, maybe some new clothes it means he can stop sitting in the doorway and start getting well. He can spend his days concentrating on regaining his strength, eating 3 meals a day and spending his time looking for work instead of worrying about basic survival.
If you want more information, please feel free to contact Stu or I. Of if you just want to donate the price of a cup of coffee, hopefully there will be enough of us that literally change a man’s life.
At Christmas we offered an extra sleeping bag as a gift and we were met with a genuine thanks it made me feel so guilty for ignoring him for so long. Since then we have got to know him and can honestly say he has become a friend. His circumstances are that of pure bad luck but he now finds himself stuck between society and homelessness and we are asking for your help.
To summarise, recently he was offered a place at a hostel in Hackney which meant he was off the streets. He was able to register for benefits (as he had an address) and every day since we have been waiting for him to be processed and he feel a part of society again. In this time, although he has the bed, he doesn’t have any money at all to feed or clothe himself of even sit indoors and read a book as he has to pay for electricity in his bedsit. So despite this he has remained in the doorway everyday trying to just get by whilst he waits. In true bureaucratic style, he has now been processed and due to his ex partners assets, he is considered not eligible and remains trapped between moving forward with his life and ending up back on the streets (he will lose his place at the hostel if the decision isn’t reversed as the government doesn’t consider him in need to assistance).
To see the hope he had, turn to heartbreak is so awful and we are trying to get him back on his feet. He isn’t treated as a person in the system and instead is judged on a column of figures/statistics and all he can do is wait and hope that his assessment is overturned. It could take weeks or months but in the meantime he still doesn’t have a penny to survive. All he wants is to get well and work again (any job!) but without food and basic living, he isn’t strong enough to look for work or look after himself mentally and physically.
This is where we are hoping that collectively, instead of him being treated as another homeless person on the street, or another statistic, or another name that needs to be processed, we treat him as a human being. He is funny, he has pride but also has learnt a lot during this experience. He cries because of his circumstance yet still manages to ask how our days are.
We are trying to raise some money to keep him going whilst we hope the government make the right decision. If we can raise enough to fill his fridge, buy a months worth of electricity, maybe some new clothes it means he can stop sitting in the doorway and start getting well. He can spend his days concentrating on regaining his strength, eating 3 meals a day and spending his time looking for work instead of worrying about basic survival.
If you want more information, please feel free to contact Stu or I. Of if you just want to donate the price of a cup of coffee, hopefully there will be enough of us that literally change a man’s life.
Organizer
Sinéad Hall
Organizer
