A nurse sleeps in her car after being homeless two days before Christmas.
Nikki Campbell, 42, spent Christmas Day “crying” and walking her two dogs before sleeping in a car she borrowed from her nephew on New Brighton Promenade.
The hardworking OR nurse had to wash and brush her teeth in supermarket toilets and spent almost fourteen days in a state of great anxiety.
READ MORE: The Council’s hands are tied over a man who sleeps in the tent unless the temperature drops below 2 degrees
Nikki, who works at the Royal Liverpool Hospital, had lived at her sister’s address in Wallasey since July 2020, but their relationship broke down and she had to go with her pug Junior and Shih Tzu, Daisy.
She had previously rented a house in Wavertree but had to leave when her landlord wanted to sell.
Nikki told the ECHO, “On the 24th.
Royal Liverpool Hospital nurse Nikki Campbell, 42, with her dogs Junior and Daisy, who has been sleeping in her car two days before Christmas since she was homeless
(Image: Liverpool Echo)
“On December 28th, I went to the Whitechapel Center and they helped me fill out the paperwork.
“But Liverpool [Council] said I have no priority and it should be Wirral Council. The whole thing was a struggle.
“I just need a little help. I know there are people who are worse off than me, but it was probably the hardest time of my life.
“It’s more about the dogs than anything else. I just feel so sorry for them. I think if I had nothing else to fear but myself, it wouldn’t be that bad.”
A Wirral Council spokesman told ECHO, when contacted on December 24th, that his Housing Options team had referred Nikki to the outreach team to “continue to help with the housing” but that the offer was “not accepted been “.
However, Nikki insists she was told the Wirral Council couldn’t help her and has actually closed her case.
With nowhere to go on Christmas Eve, Nikki slept in the car again on New Brighton Promenade, where she woke up on Christmas morning.
She said, “I haven’t really slept, it’s just stressful. You can’t relax.
“Junior is 18 months old and barks at the slightest noise so that you just don’t calm down. It wasn’t too cold and I feel like I complained too much because at least I have a car to sleep in.
Royal Liverpool Hospital nurse Nikki Campbell, 42, with her dogs Junior and Daisy, who has been sleeping in her car two days before Christmas since she was homeless
(Image: Liverpool Echo)
“But it’s pretty scary because you just don’t know who is coming up to you, especially when Junior barks at everything to keep you nervous.”
About Christmas Day she said: “I just cried. It was the worst day to be honest.
“I tried to keep myself busy, I took the dogs on a marathon walk and tried to focus on something else, but it was hard.
“You just don’t want to bother anyone and I only told my friends that night.”
On December 29th, with her mental illness, Nikki called an 911 and alerted Merseyside police.
She said, “The police were really fantastic. They came and picked me up and took me to the station and called the emergency teams for me. They said ‘you have to help this lady’.
“That’s when I found out that the Wirral Council had closed my case.”
Nikki claims she spoke to officials from both councils, but although field workers have come from Liverpool to investigate her, no offer has been made for emergency shelter.
There were two nights of rest when a charity secured a room at the Ibis Hotel on Dale Street in Liverpool city center, but Nikki had been back on the streets with her dogs since yesterday.
Nikki, who says she had a traumatic childhood and has no immediate family to rely on, now faces an uncertain future and says she may have to give up her dogs to keep working.
She said, “I can’t work a 12-hour shift in the hospital and leave her in the car, I’ll try to take care of her temporarily.”
The “local hookup” rules for homelessness state that a rough sleeper must have lived in the area for six months before an offer of housing can be made.
Last month, ECHO reported that no help was offered to a man sleeping in a tent in the Garston area because he was originally from Manchester but had left the city on threats.
The local connection rule can be ignored in situations where the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) is enabled, but in Liverpool this requires the temperature to drop below 2 ° C.
At the start of the Covid pandemic, government funds were made available to councils to house any harsh sleepers identified in their area, regardless of their local connection or immigrant status.
In Liverpool, that plan, known as Everyone in, ended and the council is now demanding proof of a local connection to house rough sleepers in shelters.
The Wirral Council said in a statement, “The Wirral Council Housing Options team was contacted on December 24th for assistance with finding accommodation. The Wirral Council will always provide support and advice to those who sleep restlessly or are at risk of restless sleep.
“So this person was given the contact of the outreach team who could help them with the accommodation if they had nowhere else to go. It goes without saying that this offer was not accepted.
“Contact was made afterwards and further help was offered. It is understood, however, that this person has chosen to look for accommodation outside the district, although he still has the option of receiving appropriate assistance in Wirral if necessary.”
A comment was made to the Liverpool Council and ECHO expects Nikki to be assessed by the local authority between Christmas and New Years.
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