An unhoused man recovering from surgery is speaking out after he was recently denied a stay at a Halifax-area hotel room, despite having the money to pay for it.
Jacob Hicks – who lives in a tent at a ballfield in the Halifax suburb of Lower Sackville – says he’s “used to being discriminated against” due to his housing status, but that doesn’t quell the disappointment he felt when the Stardust Motel in neighbouring Bedford turned him away.
“You get treated like you’re less than human, and it kind of hurt,” he said.
“It sucks that just because I don’t have a home, they would automatically profile me as someone who isn’t fit to have a room with them while I’m recovering.”
Hicks recently had kidney stone surgery, and a non-profit working with the people staying at the ballfield raised money to pay for a hotel room where he could recover.
Nikki Greer, president of the Gated Community Association, said she called the motel multiple times to try to get Hicks a room, but was told they couldn’t accommodate him because the non-profit was paying.
“I blatantly did ask her … ‘Is this about third-party payment, or is this about discrimination for our unhoused community?’ And she didn’t answer,” said Greer. “She said it’s up to the owner and it’s the owner’s decision.”
A manager at the hotel said she suspected Hicks didn’t have a credit card, which is why he was denied a room. But Greer said the credit card issue never came up when she tried to book the hotel room.
Greer phoned the hotel in front of Global News, and was told that third-party payments are decided by the owner on a case-by-case basis. Global News made multiple attempts to contact the hotel’s owner Wednesday and Thursday to ask about their third-party payment policy and why Hicks was turned away, but did not receive a response.
As advocates scrambled to find a room that would take him, Hicks said he had to continue sleeping in his tent at the ballfield as he recovered from surgery.
“There’s just no way to get comfortable, and there was nothing really to be able to distract myself,” he said. “So, I was just kind of laying there, not being able to sleep at all.”
Gated Community Association volunteer Samantha Banks said it was critical to get Hicks out of his tent and into a bed, and is disappointed that he had to spend a night in his tent while recovering from surgery.
“He’s a superstar, that is so giving and so loving and just an amazing human being,” she said.
Greer was eventually able to find Hicks a room at a Comfort Inn in Dartmouth, but says the whole situation was disheartening.
“We just need to have some sort of additional accommodation for unhoused individuals who are going through the medical system,” she said.
“We understand that our medical system is overburdened … however, we have unhoused people that are being released from surgery and they’re coming back to recover in a tent.”
“It’s unsanitary, they don’t have running water,” added Banks. “You’re not feeling well, you’re in pain. It’s not a good place to be.”
Hicks, meanwhile, is grateful for the help, but he wishes it didn’t have to be this way.
He has a message for the community.
“Just be kind to each other in general. Be kind to our population and just be aware of what is going on in Canada right now,” he said.
“We shouldn’t have people living in ballfields. It’s heartbreaking.”
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