57-Year-Old in Tears, Now Homeless after Van He Lived in Taken Away
A petition has made its way around Change.org for a 57-year-old English man left in an unfair situation. John Jones once lived in a small van off a roadside in Harlow, England.
All of that came crashing down recently when Essex city leaders took away his home. With tears streaming down his face, Jones was now homeless outside in the cold winter weather.
A heartbreaking image of the man showed him crying right after the incident. Local resident, Clare McCartney, couldn’t believe the city left him stranded with nowhere to go.
She felt that they could have a least placed him somewhere. “If the council have removed this man’s shelter, they should home him, but they left him there with nothing,” she stated.
Jones was an upstanding person who never caused any trouble in the community.
Although McCartney didn’t know his past or what led up to his living conditions, she knew he deserved “a safe space to call home.”
“He is just a man trying to keep a roof over his head,” she said. “It is a basic human right for each human to have shelter.”
McCartney and the creator of the petition, Alfrea Tobias, have rallied a few others to help support Jones and his pups. The appeal has already been signed by more than 29,300 people.
The city council of Harlow responded to the requests ensuring that they had nothing to do with the situation. They were well aware of Jones’ situation and were concerned for his well-being.
Essex County Council, however, said they were the ones who notified Jones about his “illegal encampment” after receiving several complaints from local residents.
They tried to relocate him to a caravan site, but he declined the offer.
Just last month, the council inspected Jones once more and decided to hand him a court summons.
He never showed up to his court date nor did he remove his belongings when given a 48-hour warning.
Heartbreaking photo shows a man in tears after his caravan was taken away https://t.co/8FObrUsQXX via @metrouk
— Sven Radio #FBPE #PCPEU (@SvenRadio) February 13, 2018
Jones’ caravan now sits in a storage area.
The Harlow Council housing team and a group called Homeless Mentors have tried providing other options as he goes through this difficult time.
With everyone rallying on his side, Jones has all the support he needs. We just hope he eventually finds a place to call home.
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