Woman living in disused bus shelter with mum and boyfriend pleads with council to keep home

A homeless woman living in a bus shelter with mum and boyfriend says it is much safer than being put into temporary housing with drug addicts.

Destiny Mitchell, a 26-year-old woman with autism, says the trio has been living in a disused bus shelter in Selly Oak, Birmingham, for the past seven months. They chose the makeshift home over temporary housing offered by the council, due to concerns about safety and being separated.

To make their shelter more habitable, they have added home comforts like a carpet, drawers, and curtains. They've also received assistance from well-wishers who provided garden chairs, a bin, and sleeping bags. They even use sellotape and cardboard to patch up leaks in the shelter's roof and walls.

The trio previously slept in a doorway of a Greggs bakery but were forced to move into the bus stop after being moved on by the police.

She said: "When we found this place it was my idea to create this living space.

"I've been homeless for two years off and on. At one point our tent got burnt down. I'm from Wolverhampton and I had a flat but bad things happened and I had to leave it and was made homeless. That's when we came to Selly Oak. I saw this bus stop out of use. It was cold and starting to rain. We've had to sellotape the roof to stop the rain getting in.

"The students help me sellotape the windows, I've got a chest of drawers, a carpet." The family will now have to move out after Transport for West Midlands announced it was demolishing the bus shelter within weeks.

Destiny added: "They've said we've got a month left and they're going to destroy it. I've been in here a long time, I don't want them to destroy my home, we haven't got anywhere else to live. If the council doesn't help us we're going to try and move into another bus stop.

"We wanted to get a caravan. We don't want to go into a shared house because of drug users. We don't want that, we don't use drugs. It's not safe for us. They are saying they won't house my mum and us together. My mum's disabled. I want them to house us before they take the bus shelter down.

"I just want to make sure we all stay together as a family, that's all I want. Nobody gives me any money. I haven't got any clothes, I haven't got a bra on. No one gives me any money to buy what I need. They give me food but I need clothes too. I've had the same pants on for over a month. I've been in shorts and a T-shirt, the students gave me that.

"They're the only clothes I've got now. I haven't shaved in a month. It's cold around here. I've got two blankets, one sleeping bag and one duvet. It's a fluffy one but it still gets really cold. I'm going to be sad when I have to leave the bus stop because we've done our best to make it home."

Birmingham City Council say the bus shelter is no longer in use for passengers. A spokesperson said: "Homeless support services have contacted the couple and made accommodation offers. The offers have not yet been taken up, but the offer of support and accommodation will continue to be there should they change their mind."

Support charity Trident Reach say they are trying to work with the family to help them get off the streets. A spokesperson said: "Our teams are aware of the couple and have been trying to work with them to find appropriate accommodation. Unfortunately they have declined accommodation as it is currently not in the area they would prefer.

"We will always work with people to encourage them into appropriate housing but unfortunately sometimes people do decline help. We will continue our daily checks on the couple and continue with offers of housing support and options for them."

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