More empty promises, more rights ignored
‘How long can we go on and how long will the Council continue to treat people like next to nothing?’
Since we posted the last article, we’ve met another member who has also been waiting since last summer for a final decision on her homelessness case. E is in private rented accommodation, G is waiting in a council-run hostel, but Haringey Council have left both families stuck in the same overcrowded conditions.
This is G’s story:
“I’m a single mum with a 1yrs old daughter, living in a hostel provided by the Haringey Council. My daughter and I have been living in this hostel since July 2018, sharing bathroom and cooking facilities, and until today we still haven’t heard anything from the Council. I have written to them, made complaints but nothings being done.
I have never asked for help and have not claimed benefit, I’ve always worked since the age of 17yrs old, paid my own way and rent. I’m in a temporary situation, had requested for help from the council and once I’m back on my feet, I can find my way and sort myself out. Unfortunately, I find myself in a worst situation than what I had started with, the Council have put me in a hostel for the past 7 months and I haven’t heard from them, feel like I’ve been forgotten by the Council.
I had a case worker who had looked into my case and agreed verbally that I was priority need and advised the Council had an obligation to find my daughter and I a place to stay. He advised I will get an approval letter by post which I never did, called him and emailed but had no response.
In October 2018, I got in contact with my local MP for help as I was advised he could be of help. He got in contact with the Council to see what was happening with my case and to give them 10 working days for response. A week later I spoke to someone at the Council only to be told ‘my previous case worker had left and I have been given a new case worker ‘. An interview was arranged, all the required demanded documentations were given again but yet I’m being asked constantly to resend them, she hadn’t looked at my case but yet she had already decided that I had made myself homeless, no thought to why I had left even though a clear reason had been given, she demanded proof but as I didn’t have it I was looked at as a disgrace.
It was a horrible experience to sit in front of someone who was supposed to help but yet I was looked at as a waste of space and another single mother requesting for assistance she cannot have. I got in contact again with our local MP to advise of the experience and the mistreatment I experienced but I was told to look past it and wait for a response from my new case worker. If not even your local MP can help control the way Haringey Council mistreats people, then who can?
Its hurtful to be treated this way by the Council, especially as someone who has never requested for help before. I’ve paid my taxes, I’ve contributed to the society and yet the day I need help from my local Council is the day I’m looked down on and treated like crap.
How long can we go on and how long will the Council continue to treat people like next to nothing?
February 14, 2019 Tags: gatekeeping, haringey council, homelessness, homelessness reduction act, overcrowding Posted in: HHAG ACTIONS