All human life
For reasons that will become apparent, we have not used the real names of the people mentioned below. The stories are true. The people are real. The names are not.
We want to tell you about a death, a dispute and a crime. CHESS and homelessness are the only common links - or are they?
Death
Only in very exceptional circumstances do we allow residents to keep pets. If someone has a large dog that we do agree to allow in, room 12 in the annexe (pictured) is about the only suitable place. It was recently occupied by someone who owned a dog that weighed more than he did!
A few years ago it was occupied by Stuart, who had a greyhound, Clara. He was a former prison officer who had fallen on hard times and was not in the best of health.
He never did really regain his health but in due course he was able move into a place of his own where he could take Clara too.
Earlier this year he was found dead in his own home. We don't know how long he had lain there unnoticed, but the only way he could be identified was from his dental records.
Actually it was two deaths. Clara was found dead as well. It is thought she could not escape from the room after Stuart died and eventually starved to death. If she did try to attract attention, no one heard.
Dispute
The dispute involves May, who was resident with us a couple of years ago and still uses our Day Centre. The subject matter is sufficiently serious to suggest it could ultimately end up in the County Court.
May was recently heard complaining vociferously that, if the dispute does end up in court, things will inevitably be stacked against her. She was brought up in care, has no money above what she needs to live on and no one to support her. The other party comes from a stable background and is supported by a well-off family. What chance does she stand against that?
Crime
One evening in early April a young woman was assaulted in the centre of Chelmsford, allegedly by a tall slim dark-haired man in his thirties called Tim, who for some reason was thought to be homeless.
The police turned up at the Night Shelter at 10.30 that night. We admitted we had a resident called Tim. They wanted to interview him.
Luckily for our resident he is short, bald, stocky and in his forties and had been there all evening.
The link
The link is a society that can take weeks to notice that a vulnerable man has disappeared, that can take responsibility for bringing up a young girl but fail to give her the skills and support she needs as a young woman, and that suspects a man just because he is living in a Night Shelter and shares a fairly common name with a supposed villain.
Fortunately for us, if that dispute does come to court it is a judge who will have the responsibility of reaching a decision. But do we all have a responsibility for the sort of society we live in? Do we need to change it? If so, how are we going to go about it?