Out Of The Van

I'm an electronics engineer. I got my degree from university in Algeria. I did everything. I woke up seven in the morning, went to school, studied until five. I was nearly 22 or something. You don't sleep at night, studying and preparing for exams. I studied in Algeria. We didn’t have a proper Bibliotheque. They got books from the Soviet Union! Very old books, they were quite good, but maths and physics is very complicated. The day you get your degree you think that in the future you will have good work, nice house, nice car—a normal life. You don’t imagine that age 43 will be one of the worst parts of your life.

I am an asylum seeker. I am not allowed to work or get public funds. I was living in a house, in a room with a friend. He had a new-born. And to be honest, I should have moved out even before Covid. But because of Covid I stayed longer. My friend has another kid as well, and this year he needed room for the new-born, so there was no room for me. I ended up homeless. I was sleeping in a van for nearly four months and I had to keep the windows open for air. I got cold. The area is not that safe. People are working at three in the morning, four in the morning. But I got used to it. It's how it is.

I approached Asylum Welcome. They couldn't help with housing, but they made me an application for Connection Support. I had some stomach problems and Connection helped me to move to a hotel for three nights. I took a shower. I relaxed. The first night I couldn't sleep. It was so comfortable, I couldn't sleep! Honestly! It’s beautiful. But I was sick. Connection Support got me in contact with St. Mungo’s where I stayed two weeks. I thought maybe something better will happen to me. Later Connection Support moved me to a room at Edge Housing. Connection staff helped me a lot for four months especially mentally as they supported me to see the bright side of this world.

Being homeless wasn’t a choice. Mentally and physically you get weaker every week. You wake up in the morning and you sleep in a van. You go wash yourself in a coffee shop. So when Connection offered me this chance to have my own room through Edge Housing, I was so happy. We're four people in the house. We’ve got a kitchen, we pick apples, and Connection is providing me £50 a week for food and bus pass every three months. But this £50 and bus pass only started when I moved to the room. It’s not easy, but it’s better than where I came from. I came from nowhere, man. Especially when you start getting ill. But I can see brighter future now. This time I will sort out my issues and never come back to the street. And maybe someday I’ll work with Connection and help other homeless people.

When I got used to the van, I felt safe, which was not actually safe. And when I was in the hotel, I would feel worried. Why am I in a nice place? I couldn't even sleep that night. As a human, I think we change, you become nearly like an animal or something. When I went to the hotel everything was quiet. Everything was nice. I was scared. I was thinking with myself, ‘What's wrong with you man?’ But as a human, you should have at least somewhere to stay when it’s cold or hot, and something to eat. Especially for people like me, when you have no access to public funds, and are not allowed to work. How are we going to see a way, without organisations like Asylum Welcome, Edge and Connection Support?