A woman who was suspended from her job by a council-owned anti-homelessness organisation for sleeping rough in a council garage in London has been told she can go back to work.
Arleen Matthews, 48, has worked for almost a decade for Homes for Haringey – an arms-length management organisation that looks after Haringey council’s housing stock in the capital and manages its assessment of homelessness applications. Its website states: “We want to prevent homelessness whenever possible.”
In a disciplinary hearing on Friday, Matthews was told she could return to work after three months of suspension. “I’m so happy that I’ve been reinstated and can serve the residents on the estates again,” Matthews said. “They have always shown me a lot of love and I really like doing my job.”
But she added that while she has her job back, she and her 18-year-old son Kishur are still homeless. They are sleeping on the floor in the living room of a friend’s one-bedroom flat.
“The fact that we’re still homeless is very stressful and is affecting my health,” she said. “I can’t even say that we’re sofa surfing because the friend we’re staying with doesn’t have a sofa. I’m going to see Shelter next week to see if they can help us.”
Matthews has a family history of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and says her health has deteriorated as a result of becoming homeless and being suspended from her job. She has suffered five DVTs.
Matthews’s job is to ensure that the council’s housing estates, where there are 16,000 tenants and 4,500 leasehold properties, are properly maintained. She had been living in private rented accommodation with her son, Kishur Williams, 18, but she fell behind with the rent and was evicted. In desperation and with nowhere else to go she and Kishur started sleeping in a garage on one of the estates she managed.
“We were just using the garage as a stopgap,” she said. “I kept looking for alternative, cheaper accommodation. But every door we knocked on to try to get a place to stay they refused us. They told us that they only wanted tenants who were earning at least £30,000. There’s nothing out there for the helpless.
“We slept on a sofa and a mattress from our previous accommodation. It was horrible. Water came in when it rained and we found mouse droppings. There was no heating or water.”
Matthews and her son stayed in the garage until the beginning of December. She had a plastic bowl that she carried with her and washed wherever she could.
Her appalling living conditions came to light when Matthews and her son presented themselves as homeless to the council’s housing officials. When Homes for Haringey found out where she was sleeping they suspended her. Her employers stated that she had breached health and safety rules by sleeping and storing her belongings in the garage. She was also accused of misusing a Homes for Haringey property for personal use.
Matthews underwent disciplinary proceedings, which concluded on Friday. She has received a written warning and has been told she can go back to work next week.
After Matthews’ story was featured in the Guardian, readers offered to donate money and one paid a lump sum to clear her debts. A supporter set up an online donations page that raised £1,700.
A spokesperson for Homes for Haringey said: “Arleen Matthews remains an employee at Homes for Haringey. It would be inappropriate to comment further.”
