A VULNERABLE family are in emergency accommodation after their ceiling collapsed two days before Christmas.
Ali Gibb, 33, Chris Norton, 42, and their two-year-old daughter were forced to leave their home in Kite Place in Findon Road, Brighton, after a leak caused major damage.
Brighton and Hove City Council placed them in temporary housing in Eastbourne while repairs, which could take months, are made.
But Ali, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, said they need to live in Brighton so she can access help. She said: “As disabled parents to a very nearly three-year-old daughter, we need to be closer to our support network and personal assistant in Brighton.
“The council did try really hard to get us housed in Brighton but because there is so much demand, and we needed somewhere urgently, it was very difficult.
“This flat just isn’t suitable. I can’t get my wheelchair around the property and I can just about get in the door.
“The bathroom is not accessible and my daughter has a mattress on the floor. We are all having to sleep in our bed together because it is too cold. With the pandemic, it’s just so stressful because we are a clinically extremely vulnerable family and it would be stressful at the best of times, let alone being somewhere we don’t know.”
The family are also desperate to be reunited with their two pet cats who are not allowed in their new home.
Ali has launched an online appeal to find a “safe and warm” home with step-free access in Brighton.
She said: “I would just really like to be somewhere that is suitable for my family and my disability and my wheelchair and to be back in the area where we belong.
“People have been very kind in their responses to the appeal so far, but sadly the offers we’ve had so far have had too many steps and have not had sufficient space.
“We are looking for somewhere that we can live our family life with our cats as independently as possible.”
The council said it was aware of their family’s difficulties and would give them an allowance for alternative accommodation.
A spokeswoman said the Eastbourne flat was an emergency measure as it was the only self-contained accommodation available accessible by wheelchair.
She said: “We continue to look for alternative emergency accommodation in Brighton. We are waiting for confirmation regarding the time the repairs will take but given the family’s circumstances these are a priority.”
If you would like to help, email accommodationappeal2020@gmail.com.
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