INTERVIEW WITH - Jean Eveleigh about her period of homelessness and her motivations she drew from this period to become the acting leader and treasurer of the Democratic Reform Party.
We have been trying to get time with Jean Eveleigh for a while on this page to speak about her brush with homelessness and how she is now Treasurer and Acting Leader for the Democratic Reform Party.
I am sure her story will be very powerful and inspiring.
We are now going to have an informal Q&A with her and her experiences.
Please welcome her to the page if you are on. Anything we record here will be reblogged on our homeless awareness blog:
http://
Hello Jean and Welcome
Politics UK not a problem. Well to start thing off would you take a moment to explain who you are to the readers and what the DRP is?
Jean Eveleigh
I'm a 32 year old disabled lady who lives in London - pretty much like most of you, I have a normal life, regular worries etc and probably didn't really give politics more than a passing thought until a few years ago when the recession hit ...and then the co-olition government came into power and started to talk about their policies and I could instantly see the problems that would happen as they took hold.
My partner and I we're constantly sat at home shouting at the TV in despair and disgust, wondering what we could to to try to change the situation when the opportunity to work with the DRP came up and I jumped at it.
See the DRP isn't your normal political party we activly go out and talk to the man on the street every day we want you to tow help us formulate our policies and tailor them to your local area, we are aware that a policy that is perfect for Devon is going to be usless in Aberdeen so why make a one policy fits all model party when we know that is part of the problemSee more
3 July at 20:52 · · 4
Politics UK You are clearly an active member of the the DRP. However previous to being in the DRP you had a difficult time and found yourself without shelter. How did this happen and what was it like being homeless for a period of time?
Jean Eveleigh
I was 16 and had a turbulent relationship with my mother and step-father, they were quite controlling (in fact I was later made to understand that they were abusive in their treatment of me) - I was working as an administration in a securit...y firm and so most of my friends were older than me, I was babysitting for one of the workers one night while he went out with his wife and when he dropped me off at home he had missed his train back home so I said he could stay over.
My parents took this to mean that we were having an inappropriate relationship and threw me out the next morningSee more
3 July at 20:58 · · 1
Jean Eveleigh Being homeless was terrifying, I didn't know what to do so I went to the local phone box and called the police, luckily my mental health diagnosis worked in my favour as they had to come and collect me because I was classed as a vulnerable person and they found me a bed in a night shelter -that was where I realised for the first time what a mess I was in.
3 July at 21:00 · · 1
Politics UK You found yourself in a night shelter. What was it like. Was there a support network there for the homeless?
Jean Eveleigh
there was no where for me to sleep as they only had male users, so they had to put me on the floor in the office with someone sat in the door way to ensure the men kept away from me, I had to be escorted to the toilet and take all my stuff ...with me as I was warned that if I left it unattended it would get nicked.
They did provide breakfast at 6 am the next morning then threw us all out and told us the door would open at 7pm that night in a different location, I was pulled aside and told that if I wanted to be garunteed a bed I would have to get there for 2pm to be at the front of the queue.
I explained that would be impossible as I worked and they said they couldn't save me a bed as it was first come first served so I spent all day trying to work starving hungry worrying about where I was going to sleep that nightSee more
3 July at 21:06 · · 1
Jean Eveleigh I ended up hididng in the office block dodging the security guard trying to sleep on the couch in our waiting room
3 July at 21:07 · · 1
Politics UK So you were recognised on day one as a person at risk by the authorities. Yet spent the second night hiding in your works office?
Was there any literature or material offered to you to give you any hope that there was a way out of the prediciment you found yourself in?
Jean Eveleigh
The next day was Saturday and the night shelter was in the YMCA they interviewed me and put me on the emergency list for a room but it was still three weeks before they had a room available for me to move into so that was a double edged swo...rd I knew it wasn't going to be for long but each day was soul destroying, waiting for colleges to leave their unfinished food on the canteen table so i could go and finish it hopefully without being seen, trying to wash myself properly in the office toilets and my clothes as well as I only had three days worth with meSee more
3 July at 21:10 · · 2
Jean Eveleigh Yes I'd had a breakdown in school at 13 and had been involved with psychiatric services ever since.
No there was no literature or any help offered until the third night described above when the shelter was housed in the YMCA and then it was the YMCA staff that helped me and not the night shelter staff
3 July at 21:13 · · 1
Politics UK 3 days is a long time to be left in a vunerable state.
Do you feel this could be handled better? What would you suggest could society do to make this better for people in the first fews days on the street? How can we make a better net to catch those that fall through the system like this?
Jean Eveleigh
well one of the things the DRP want is a dedicated night shelter in every area that is in the same building all the time and open all day and night so that people have somewhere to go if they find themselves on the street, they would have a... GP, podiartist, phsiatric specilist etc all on site to help with any medical issues that peole could access on their own terms, hot food of each of the meal times would be produced and beds would be avalible.
This place would also liase directly with the local council, housing associations and other services to attempt to ensure that no one has to stay on the streets for more than a night unless they do so out of choice (as there are a minority of people who for whatever reason choose to be on the streets rather than in society)See more
3 July at 21:20 · · 2
Jean Eveleigh
just by luck because the night shelter spent the third night in the YMCA and the staff their helped me - as I said they put me on the emergency room list and after three weeks they had a room for me to move into, they helped me to fill out ...benefit forms to get housing benefit to pay the rent, part of the room benefit was that you got food tokens for two meals a day and they started to give me lessons in life skills such as how to manage money, talking about my alcohol use etc and started to get me to see myself as worthwhile and useful.
This wasn't a quick fix and most of these lessons had to be repeated and reinstalled several times over the next 10 years before I got to where I am now.
But from the YMCA I got into a specialised half way house that dealt with young people with mental health issues and when I'd been through their programme a council flat - which is where I am nowSee more
3 July at 21:26 · · 2
Jean Eveleigh If they hadn't have spent that night at the YMCA it is very possible I would still be on the streets today
3 July at 21:27 · · 2
Politics UK So you recieved very little support from local authorities and all your crucial support came from a charity organisation? Is that fair to say? Do you think this work should be centralised or are charities the best way to deal with this?
3 July at 21:30 · · 1
Jean Eveleigh
yes that is very fair to say - I think the current system is too disjointed and all the charities and local authorities need to work together much closer to tackle this problem we have about 20 different charities that are set up to help wi...th homelessness but they don't work together so it is easy for the government to ignore them, (the same with all preasure and interest groups) if theu sat around a table and looked at what they have in common, pooled their funding they could do so much more but the are all chasing funding and isums - i.e we can't help you unless you have kids, or mental health issues, are men, are black etc -this is not helping it is creating the conditions for the problem to explode we are already seeing homelessness increasing. IN London where I live they reckon street sleeping is up 48% since the beginning of the year and no-one has any idea what to do to help these people or where to send them - each time they ring a charity and get told they don't fit the criteria for them to help it makes them feel that little bit more worthless and makes it less likely they will ring the next number on the list and that's not even looking at the fact that they need money to be able to make all these phone calls to begin withSee more
3 July at 21:36 · · 1
Politics UK Would you say that this experience and possible lack of support here is one of the key reasons you joined a political party?
Do you feel you can affect a positive change to homelessness through a minor party?
Jean Eveleigh
Yes that along with other issues such as my disability and the cuts to benefits etc - I couldn't take any more and have always believed that complaining solves nothing if you want something to happen/change then you have to get off your but...t and make it happen.
Can a minor party do it Labour were none existent 120 years ago, Greens were none existent 20 years ago if the support and groundswell is there and we can grow to a significant number yes I do believe we and/or other parties can be a power for good.
We all complain about the three party system but unless we take a chance on the smaller parties nothing will ever changeSee more
3 July at 21:42 · · 2
Politics UK From your experience and from what you have learnt on this subject through further research would you say
a) The vast majority lack the basic help they need?
b) The situation has improved or weakened?
c) Most homeless people only have themselves to blame?
Politics UK Just to give you a few comments that we hear a lot on these pages. Hope they work for you in a group like that :p
Jean Eveleigh
The vast majority do not get the help they need either because they are not told it is there, or they have to be able to pay to access it and when they earn money through begging the first priority is food, something for warmth Booze is usu...ally the cheapest way to achieve this unfortunatly and some way to relieve the fear this is where the drugs come in
The situation is currently worse and getting more and more desperate everyday.
Yes some people only have themselves to blame but the vast majority of people on the streets are either fleeing abuse (domestic violence, sexual assaults etc) or have lost their jobs and fallen into debt so either lost their homes or left them so that there partner can claim benefits to keep a roof over the childrens heads
as I said before very few people want to be on the street and my challenge to anyone who says it is a choice and you only have yourself to blame is OK you do it for one night then and see how it feelsSee more
3 July at 21:52 · · 3
Politics UK Jean you have been a fantastic interviewee and I am sure some of these answers were very difficult to give.
Politics UK PoliticsUK will draw a line under this question here as it seems a very nice point to finish the debate if you are ok with this.
Jean Eveleigh Not a problem, thanks for listening :-)
I'll hang around for a while in case anyone has any other questions
3 July at 21:56 · · 1
Alan J B Wyllie Jean, Thank you.
I have been homeless but I have not got the courage of you.
Mega respect to you.
3 July at 21:58 · · 2
Sarah Whittaker Would making the change you talk about in one of your earlier posts with homeless shelters in every region be expensive. Could we afford this. Obviously it would be a nice and very effective thing to have, but you talk of doctors and mental health being there.
I am sure you have done some costings as part of the DRP so is it viable?
Jean Eveleigh
we are in he process of trying to get all the charities together to be able to discuss and do a project around the costings.
The costs would vary from area to area but all it would mainly be is purchasing a large enough building and as we ...all know most councils have empty office buildings lying or libraries etc, all the charities working together would reduce their overheads for gas, electric ect as they would be pooling money for one building rather than each one paying for a separate building - same with staffing leaving more money to actually tackle the root causes of homelessness and to provide clean clothing, decent food and toiletries and also where needed education and training oportunites to help people back into employment.
Most medical personnel donate time to the charities anyway and I don't envisage that changing.See more
Richard Frazer Interesting answer there Jean. Just a note to all this thread will be added as a story in the blog on the opening comment. There is some very interesting information here and it would be good we don't lose this
Jean Eveleigh
The biggest issue we have is getting agencies together to talk about these sorts of issues we approach them and get told they can't work with us as they cannot be seen to support a political party - this is a rediculaous position hopw can w...e produce workable, rigours, costed policies without the help of the charities and how can we say that we produce policies hand in hand with the people they will affect rather than telling them what to do if the charities won't give us access to them and facilitate their abilities to work with us
We know the experts are the people on the ground so any policy made has to be done in consultation with those peopleSee more
3 July at 22:11 · · 1
Thank you for your time and thoughts Jean and we look forward to seeing the DRP success in this field in the future.
If anybody would like to share other similar experiences please contact Richard Frazer richard@simplysociety.co.uk.
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