This N.B. couple became homeless a year ago. Now, they're opening up about the harrowing experience

Kevin Desylva and Reah Palmer never imagined they would end up homeless. But after 32 years together, the couple found themselves trying anything to make it through each day.

"We've never experienced homelessness, we've never been around it," Desylva said. 

"Everything about it was new to us, the people, the atmosphere — it's rough."

There was a time, he said, when the pair were living in Chipman area of what is now Grand Lake. Palmer was working three jobs, and Desylva stayed home to look after his granddaughter.

Palmer was working 70 to 80 hours a week during the COVID pandemic, Desylva said, and the pair eventually moved to Saint John when she was transferred there for a job as a personal support worker.

But when one of Palmer's employers had to let her go, the couple couldn't make their rent.

In late December 2023, Desylva ended up in an out-of-the-cold shelter run by Outflow Ministry. Palmer bounced around with family and friends for a while. 

But Palmer said it's difficult relying on family and friends for accommodations when they also need their space.

She started living out of her small car, working 12-hour shifts at night and then sleeping in the vehicle during the day.

At first, Palmer said, she didn't tell Desylva she wasn't staying with family anymore because she didn't want him to worry. And at the same time, he didn't want her in the violent shelter environment he was experiencing. 

"It was hell on Earth being there," Desylva said.

He was drug-free when he entered the shelter, he said, but within a week he was introduced to fentanyl, which led to a four-month struggle until he was able to get clean again.

When Palmer received a call from someone telling her that her partner had tried fentanyl, she decided to leave her car and join Desylva in the co-ed shelter. At night, Desylva said, they had to sleep with a knife in one hand and a hammer in the other for protection. 

During Palmer's second night in the shelter, she said she woke up to someone on top of her choking her  security trying to pull the woman off.