Case Study: Food bank gives hope to young family at risk of homelessness

For two months mother-of-two Alicia was without work and had to borrow from friends to survive.

Her application for Universal Credit took longer than usual to process due to an administrative error and, unable to afford the essentials such as rent and food, she turned to Hackney Foodbank for help.

She said: “November and December were the worst months of my life. I didn’t work, didn’t have any income. I applied for Universal Credit and, due to an error, it wasn’t approved.  For two whole months I lived on money borrowed from friends.”

Alica is a single mum living in a one-bed flat but is facing homelessness due to unpaid rent. She says she was refused child benefits and that her Universal Credit was subject to a benefits cap.

In January she got a new job in hospitality – working 15 hours a week she earns £13 per hour, which isn’t enough to cover her bills.

She added: “I am doing everything I can, I have regular appointments with the Job Centre to see what work is available to me. All those issues were overwhelming.  I felt alone, struggling with daily problems and the helplessness that comes with having linguistic limits to defend myself.

“I called Hackney Foodbank and spoke about my issues with a huge amount of hope and I have slowly started to recover.  It wasn’t challenging when I was speaking to the Hackney Foodbank team – they are doing so much for me.”

Alicia has been supported by the food bank’s caseworkers – they’ve been helping with her benefits application and are also helping her find suitable employment.

She added: “I am aware that the benefits nowadays aren’t enough to provide enough for a family to sustain itself with dignity. But that benefit would be helpful as I could buy some clothes for my children.”