Having once escaped the clutches of homelessness as a pregnant teenager, Shanice Bancroft finds herself on the verge of reliving her worst fear. An old nightmare with a disconcerting new twist: she may have to confront the horrors of street life with her 12-year-old son.
What was meant to be a story about a single mother’s struggle to buy school supplies had an unexpectedly distressing plot twist. The day before the interview was scheduled, Bancroft messaged, “I got an eviction notice from my landlord, which stated that I have to vacate the premises within one day.”
When Guardian Media arrived the next day at her now former apartment in Longdenville, we met the dejected 31 year old, surrounded by several black garbage bags filled with items and a look of desolation on her face. It seemed that getting her son’s textbooks in time for September was no longer the most urgent matter on her to-do list.
Bancroft explained she was one month behind on her rent and owed the apartment’s deposit. She worked as a geriatric nurse. However, when her patient passed, she lost her income.
“I have no plans, honestly, because I have no one to fall back on. As a single mom who has been out here on my own for the majority of my life, it’s not like I can instantly run to somebody and say, I’m in this situation; I need the help. Could you help me right away?”
When asked what would be her next move, Bancroft said, “I don’t know; I honestly don’t know,” as she stared intently into space on the now-bare floor.
Acknowledging the impending prospect of homelessness and the high possibility of living on the streets with her son, Bancroft revealed that she knows all too well the terrors that await them.
“When I was pregnant with him, it was the first time I encountered homelessness. I had nobody to turn to. I tried to stay by my mother when I was seven months pregnant, and that didn’t work out because she was thinking that her 18-year-old daughter shouldn’t be pregnant, and that resulted in me having to stay in the Croisee,” she explained while wiping away the freshly formed tears in her eyes.
“During the days I would go to Mario’s to sit down, probably brush my teeth, and clean myself. And in the night when they close, it’s back to the Croisee. Sometimes I would try to go by the hospital in the night to get somewhere to sleep because, as an 18 year old, being homeless and pregnant—the kinds of things you see out there—is something I would not wish for anybody to go through. People prey on you; they look at you like you have nothing, so you have to do what they want, and it was horrible,” she said as she continued taking shallow breaths while tears flowed unencumbered.
It was at that moment that her son, who was standing in the doorway of the soon-to-be-vacated apartment, peeked his head from around the back of our camera lens with a curious look, trying to figure out why his mother was crying.
When Bancroft made eye contact with her son, it was then she reached the crescendo of her sorrow. “I don’t want him to go through that kind of life because I’ve been through being raped, begging for lodging, and sexually harassed. Now at his age, I don’t want him to know his mother going through those things. He is a child, so for him to have to see his mother going through those things or hear his mother going through those things is absolutely terrifying,” she wailed as her son comforted her by holding both her hands.
Bancroft said even when she could afford a roof over their heads, life has always been difficult. One week of no income could greatly constrain their most basic needs.
“For the past few days, all we had was sada roti and sugar water to the point where the sugar water finished yesterday, and we didn’t have anything else. Once I am working, we will try to cook something and make it last about three days. But making sure we are fed, clothed, and paying bills is really difficult,” Bancroft explained.
Survival is also now coming at the cost of her son’s education. The child is due to begin Standard 4 in September. Bancroft explained that her inability to afford his textbooks has been holding back his progress.
“Schoolbooks have always been a challenge for me because one textbook alone costs over $100 at Standard 4 level. He fell back really badly in his schooling. Some subjects he was not able to do or get good marks in because he could not get the books. There is only so much that can be done on the teachers’ side, but not being able to do his homework with books at home was even more challenging, and it affected his grades, where he fell back drastically,” Bancroft said ashamedly.
Looking at the garbage bags filled with their belongings, Bancroft said most nights she cries and questions her value as a mother. “It even has days where I wonder what if I had given him up. It had days relatives told me I should have put him up for adoption when he was born,” she said.
Asked about the child’s father, she grimaced and said, “The last time I heard from him was January. I asked him if he could help with $500 for his son on a monthly basis, and he told me no, he can’t do that because he has his own life to live; he has to pay rent and buy his own groceries.”
After a pause, she said, “I don’t want to be strong all the time, but I have to be.”
Given the immediate nature of Brancroft’s plight, Guardian Media contacted Social Development and Family Services Minister Donna Cox, who, upon hearing of the mother’s situation, immediately passed on her information to the Family Services Division.
Bancroft met with the division, and they are attempting to process a rental assistance grant for the mother and son. In the meantime, she is staying with a friend.
Bancroft said she was willing to work if offered a job with a steady income. She also needs an apartment owner who will accept the terms that come with the rental assistance grant.
When Guardian Media left her to pack up the rest of her belongings, her son, who was tasked with escorting us out, said, “I knew we’d have to leave here; when we first came, I thought it was too good to be true.”
Anyone wishing to assist Shanice Bancroft and her 12-year-old son can contact her at 379-9796.