Homelessness ‘happened so quick – yesterday everything was good’
After his mother died, Chris made what he called the “most costly mistake that I ever made in my life”.
He had lost his job and decided to rent out the apartment left to him by his mother and move into a smaller place in order to have a little income.
The tenants, he said, did not pay and he was left both jobless and homeless, living in his car and getting up at 5am to avoid people as he used public facilities at John Smith’s Bay and waited outside supermarkets late at night to get food.
For most of his working life Chris, 60, who suffers from cancer, was in the tourism industry, serving top-tier guests who, he said, were generous with their tips.
But it all stopped when the Fairmont Southampton closed and he lost his job.
“I was looking after my mother and when she died, she left me an apartment. So looking at my finances, and how things were going, I decided to put my apartment up for rent,” he said.
He found a small place to live at about $600 a month and rented his own apartment for $2,500, but, he claimed, the tenants failed to pay, or paid intermittently, meaning he had next to no income. He is taking the tenants to court, but cannot afford a lawyer.
“It was the most costly mistake that I ever made in my life,” said Chris, who has been living for the past four months at Black Circle, an initiative helping the homelessrun by the charity Home (see panel).
“I was actually living in my car. I had to go to John Smith’s Bay and use the facilities there.”
The Royal Gazette in conjunction with stakeholders including Home, a charity helping the homeless, has launched its Ending Homelessness campaign to remind the community that the homeless matter.
Home, and others, want to end homelessness. So do we. We want your support. We want you to change your perception of the homeless. We want you to help lobby for simple changes. We want you to show compassion.
Homeless people want to work so that they may be self-sufficient. They did not choose to be homeless and in many cases their plight was brought about by systemic failings in this country.
Home has produced a report, Plan to End Homeless, which is out for consultation and points to issues and solutions to the homeless problem in Bermuda. It can be seen in Related Media.
Chris’s ex-wife left Bermuda to go to Britain with her son, who had lost a leg, to try and give him a better life. Chris wants to do his part as well.
“I’m trying to help him because he will inherit the apartment, which my mother had put in place. With him not having a leg because of a crash, his life is going to be hard, it’s going to be really hard. So I was trying to put money aside for him.”
Chris, who has worked since the age of 16, admits to “always being used to having things good”, adding that he would go out with hundreds of dollars in cash to help the homeless at Christmas.
In 2010, the Bermuda Census identified 82 people experiencing homelessness. By 2016, that number had risen to 138.
According to Home, which produced the report, the Department of Statistics developed those estimates based on counting rough sleepers and the population housed in the Salvation Army emergency shelter.
As of December 31, 2022, Home had recorded more than 650 people experiencing homelessness.
On what is next for him, Chris said he was working on getting his tenants out. “I just want to go home and just live in my apartment, my beautiful apartment.”
He added: “Once I get myself stable in an apartment, I was going to look for a job.
“You know, I had so many plans. I had so many plans that just came to an end when I put these people in my house. I want to rent again but I want to rent a room in the apartment this time.”
Chris, who also suffers from bad eczema, added: “I’ve done a lot of spending, I travelled to a lot of places, I've done a lot of things.
“Now I’m homeless. I mentioned this to a friend. We were sitting and talking. It was like, it happened so quick on me as like, yesterday, everything was good.”
Home helps people through the transition from homelessness to stable living, starting with an eight-week programme designed to restore the building blocks of a normal life.
Every three months, the charity provides shelter and support for a fresh cohort of people committed to getting their lives back on track, in accommodation at the Black Circle building on Union Street, Hamilton.
The environment is welcoming — intended to be more like a guesthouse than an institution — but clients are required to do their bit during the eight weeks and work as a team, helping out with cooking, cleaning and buying supplies.
Each client has a weekly appointment with one of Home’s case managers to monitor progress and help provide access to necessary services.
Week 1 is busy, with a focus on personal care and the basic necessities required for independent living. Each client receives meals, toiletries, a laundry card and a haircut, as well as undergoing a physical with a medical doctor. Home will also access mental health services for clients who need them.
Also in the first week, they secure an ID, set up an e-mail address, acquire a social insurance card and open or reactivate a bank account. A bus pass is provided to allow them to travel around the island, and they register with the Department of Workplace Development, Bermuda Jobs Board and the Department of Financial Assistance.
In Week 2, they take their first steps towards gaining employment, completing a résumé, applying for jobs and checking their e-mails daily. Until employed, they carry out five hours’ community service per day, helping them to readjust to the world of work.
In Week 3, they follow up with job applications, while starting to document any income and report it to the Department of Financial Assistance. A workshop on applying for apartments is a first step towards securing their own accommodation.
As each week goes by, the clients’ responsibilities grow. By Week 3, they are buying their own bus pass, laundry detergent and toiletries, and paying rent of $137.50 per week. With a bank account up and running, in Week 4, they apply for a debit card.
In Weeks 5 through 8, clients’ main focus is on securing employment and accommodation. During this phase, they acquire a secure, prepaid phone and apply for apartments, helped by a rental reference from Home.
Need to
Know
2. Please respect the use of this community forum and its users.
3. Any poster that insults, threatens or verbally abuses another member, uses defamatory language, or deliberately disrupts discussions will be banned.
4. Users who violate the Terms of Service or any commenting rules will be banned.
5. Please stay on topic. "Trolling" to incite emotional responses and disrupt conversations will be deleted.
6. To understand further what is and isn't allowed and the actions we may take, please read our Terms of Service
