How modern slavery victim went from homelessness to ‘amazing’ job

Will spent years homeless and longer as a victim of modern day slavery. But since he joined a Birmingham charity, he has a job and a safe place to live.

The 38-year-old came to Birmingham from Poland 17 years ago.

He wanted to put his good English to good use and move to a country that he felt had better opportunities than home.

After getting a job with a construction company, he found a place to live.

But, after a few months, a family bereavement (his sister died in an accident) combined with a housemate who, according to him, did not pay his share of the bills led him to become depressed and evict him.

He was left homeless, spending his nights at the Digbeth bus station and his days in the library.

Eventually, they introduced him to Sifa Fireside, a charity that provides support services for the homeless and others who want to rebuild their lives.

He began selling The Big Issue and, thanks to switching to other jobs and support from the charity, stayed off the streets for seven years.

He later got a job at a warehouse where he was eventually named team leader. However, he said that he had lost his job when two people whom he considered friends, and whom he had found jobs in the factory, started stealing. He couldn’t prove that he wasn’t involved.

“As a thank you for getting my friends a job, I lost mine,” he said.

Later, after curing what he described as a mild case of depression, he found work in a factory in Walsall and moved in with a couple he met there. It was then that his situation worsened.

“They asked me if I could lend them some money because of housing benefit issues or something, I had no problem with that. They offered me a delicious meal as a thank you. And that’s the end of that positive story.”

“They poisoned me, then they took all my money, they took my ID, and then they basically kept me in forced labor for almost two years.”

The poison sickened his stomach, he said, for the next week and left him unable to leave his room. When he did, his passport, wallet, bank cards and money were gone and he ended up depending on them for everything.

Her food was rationed, she couldn’t leave her room apart from shopping for them or translating and cleaning for them. She prevented him from working.

“Not exactly nice people,” he said.

“I tried to escape a couple of times, I lost a couple of my teeth because of it. I was walking from Bloxwich to Walsall, a car stopped and I was knocked to the ground and I ended up back home sweet home.”

He felt he couldn’t get help as he didn’t have any address or documentation to prove who he was.

The only thing she was allowed to keep was her library card, as it was not considered valuable.

“The best I could do was borrow some books from the library, so at least I had something to read, something I could do myself. I read books all day while I stayed in bed because if I made noise they would be disturbed. “

He got a food allowance of two loaves of bread, two packages of soft cheese, and one package of deli meats for one week.

“If I was lucky and found some pennies on the floor, I’d buy some cookies.”

Sometimes the couple went with him to the shops, sometimes they didn’t, but even if they didn’t, he said they had so many friends downtown there was no chance to leave.

The couple were alcoholics, he said, which eventually helped him escape.

“They were terribly drunk one night to the point where I took advantage and broke out at three in the morning and literally walked from Walsall to Birmingham straight to Sifa Fireside.

“It was the best ride ever.”

In addition to providing a drop-in center where people can get a hot meal, a shower, and access to a variety of support services, Sifa staff also work to help clients find work.

Sifa is launching a scheme for corporate partners to get involved. The Building Employability project involves:

Will went back to selling Big Issue and volunteering at Sifa.

Aside from raising various benefit issues with Sifa and Employment Center staff, he said he had not asked Sifa to take any action on his behalf.

“I had washed my hands of the whole thing,” he said.

He was living in a tent in Aston when, through Sifa, he was presented with the opportunity to apply for a job at Urban Emporiums in Birmingham. She borrowed a suit from the charity’s clothing closet to attend the interview.

“It was so much fun when I came out of my tent in my three-piece suit and sparkly shoes,” he said.

He was given a 15-hour-a-week job as a dishwasher. Five years later, she is kitchen manager at the firm’s Jewelery Quarter site.

“He was the best-dressed candidate we had,” said Hannah Wolsey, CEO of Urban Emporium,

“I think most homeless people have to be incredibly resilient, but it’s about being prepared and willing to do it. [apply for a job].”

Urban has always seen itself as a community based on participation in various schemes to raise money for charity.

But, wanting to make a bigger impact and also starting to notice an increase in homelessness in the inner city since it opened in 2009, he reached out to Sifa to see what else he could do.

Urban immediately realized that her own staff loved the scheme, Ms Wolsey said, adding that it had been great at giving people opportunities, even if all she could offer was a three-month position.

“It brings people back into that reality of life and reaching out to people outside of their own homeless networks. Any industry could do it,” said Ms Wolsey.

She admits that the scheme won’t work for everyone and Urban has had a couple of people through the doors for whom it didn’t work.

But for Will, going to Urban was an “honestly amazing experience.” He didn’t have a bank account, so at first the company used his salary for his accommodation.

“The amount of compassion they show staff, the pressure they put on themselves to talk to staff and interact with them, to give them chances, opportunities, training. It was something completely different for me.”

“Nobody can experience several years of homelessness without some sort of mental repercussions or some degree of mental scarring that will need to be addressed,” he said.

“That’s why these schemes are so essential. They address monetary issues, like homelessness, and broader issues.”

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