Claudia Sacrest
Stoke-on-Trent (United Kingdom), March 5 (EFE) .- From the street to a home. A large industrial warehouse in the center of England houses individual huts that give about forty homeless people the possibility of having decent accommodation to help them reintegrate into society.
The town of Stoke-on-Trent, about 250 kilometers north of London, is known for its traditional ceramics, but is now attracting attention for the homeless shelter launched by the former Manchester United footballer and the Scottish national team. Lou Macari.
The Macari Center has prefabricated rooms measuring a dozen square meters, equipped with a bed, furniture, heating, electricity and television. Each resident can decorate and organize it in their own way.
“We have to leave the barracks to go to the bathroom but in the end we don’t pay anything, we benefit from a house,” Charlie Railton, 24, one of the residents, tells EFE.
“I have my own space, I do more things for myself, I buy myself more food … It has been a whole process for me. I have television, I can see what I want with freedom and I even sleep better because I have no one around, ”says Terry Beckett, 34.
THE CORONAVIRUS AS A CHANGE OF PARADIGM
There was not always this privacy. Four years ago this Manchester United and Celtic Glagow legend founded a hostel with a large shared dormitory to provide shelter, clothing and food for the people who slept on the streets of his city.
With the pandemic, the British Government considered the center inappropriate and this forced it to rethink a new accommodation that would protect them from the virus.
“Before, everyone shared one bathroom. That cannot be, especially with covid-19. It was like a farm, there were robberies … That’s safer ”, says the young Railton.
The advantages of the new system have not only served to prevent infections, but their quality of life has also been improved.
Each booth has its own address, with a door number, and that, according to Macari, is of great help to do procedures such as opening a bank account or finding a job.
“When they go to the job search center, they always ask you for your address and before they didn’t have one,” he says.
SAME PROBLEM, DIFFERENT REASONS
The center covers basic needs and all meals, but the problem of homelessness is more complex in its roots and can encompass very different factors, from financial and family problems to addictions, crime or mental health.
This makes living together difficult, although in the end, says Railton, everyone is “in the same boat.”
“I had some jobs but I have been in jail so many times … seven times, and I am only 24,” says the young man, who due to his drug addiction committed thefts and robberies in stores.
At 61, Thomas Preston has more life behind him and has also been behind bars. “I mixed with criminals and used to work with them. He used to beat up many times, ”he recounts, recalling his past in the nearby city of Birmingham.
“It was a bit crazy in those days. When you are young you think you can do anything, right? When you get older, you realize that not … ”, he reflects.
TELEVISION AS A WINDOW TO THE WORLD
The founder of the center stresses that residents can stay “as long as they want.”
“There is no time limit to go ahead. We try to serve them as well as we can, get as much as we can, and help them improve and get ahead. This is not easy, everyone has to do it for themselves ”, acknowledges Macari.
All residents highlight television as an improvement factor for their day to day life. Preston has discovered the series ‘The Big Bang Theory’ and says that what he likes the most is being able to ‘have the door closed’, that they respect him and nobody bother him, because he does not like ‘getting involved in the night hustle’ of the center.
Macari himself noticed the positive impact of television after receiving the donation of 48 devices.
‘We often forget that those on the street do not see what is happening in the world. The first day we opened here, I thought everyone had left and I was left alone. It was all so quiet … but they were all inside the booths watching TV! ‘He remembers with a smile. EFE
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