Former homeless woman reunites with couple who changed her life with crisp sandwich

A former homeless woman has shared her joy after being reunited with the couple who changed her life by giving her a bed — and a crisp sandwich.

Yasmina stayed with Mark and Elisabeth in their Whitley Bay home after she found herself living in her car outside Newcastle city centre, facing an uncertain future.

With some help from social media, she decided to track the couple down and share her progress, now that she is back on her feet in private accommodation and studying for a masters’ degree.

In a heartwarming reunion, Yasmina revealed how the couple played a critical role in her journey from crisis to stability.

She said: “I’ll never forget the warmth and safety I felt when I stepped into Mark and Elisabeth’s home, it wasn’t just a roof over my head; it was the conversations and encouragement that gave me hope and reminded me of my worth.”

‘All she needed was someone to believe in her’

Mark, 75, a retired bishop from Whitley Bay, lives with wife Elisabeth, who works part-time as an advanced nurse practitioner.

The couple have welcomed nearly 100 people at risk of homelessness to spend a night in their home in the last decade.

They pair volunteer for Nightstop, an emergency accommodation service set up by Depaul UK, the youth homelessness charity.

Mark said he first heard about Nightstop during a church meeting about runaway teenagers. He and his wife already had experience of providing a room for refugees, so the opportunity to do the same for young people felt like a natural step.

“We’ve got three kids, and if they ever got into a muddle, it would just be lovely to think there was someone there to take them off the streets and be nice to them,” Mark told Yahoo News.

“I remember that Yasmina is the only person who ever asked us for a crisp sandwich,” Mark joked. “To hear that we gave her a crisp sandwich, the end result is that she ends up getting a masters’ degree is extraordinary.”

Reflecting on the experience, Mark said: “Yasmina is an incredible person. All she needed was a chance and someone to believe in her.”

Mark said that housing Yasmina and other young people has brought him and his wife “so much joy”.

“We all live in quite small bubbles. It’s just really been great to meet people who I might not otherwise have met if we hadn’t done Nightstop,” he told Yahoo News.

I think it’s fair to say that every body who we have met has in some way or other enriched our lives.”

‘A dead easy way to make a difference’

Mark has shared his story in the hope of encouraging more people to sign up to a Nightstop project in one of the 23 locations around the UK.

“The point we always make is that if this is scary for anybody, it’s scary for the person coming to our house,” he told Yahoo News. “We have never once felt anxious, and we have felt so much joy from the experience.”

“I think it’s a dead easy way to make a difference.”

Nicola Harwood, the director of services at Depaul UK, has echoed Mark’s call for help, warning that the demand for Nightstop places is surging.

Harwood said: “Yasmina’s story is a testament to the resilience of people experiencing homelessness and the life-changing impact of our hosts.

“But with demand for Nightstop surging by more than half, we urgently need more people to step forward and help.”

There has been a shocking rise in homelessness in the last year in England, spiking to 14%, according to homelessness charity Shelter.

One in 160 people were estimated to be homeless in England on a given night this year, its research suggested.

Read more:

• Schoolboy saves pocket money to buy homeless veterans Christmas presents (Glasgow Evening Times)

• City charity will spread joy to young homeless people this Christmas (News and Star)

• Thousands fed by food bank this year – as organisers tell how families are struggling (Dorset Echo)