A community in mourning is looking to provide a ‘united’ approach to help Huddersfield’s homeless.
Now, those inspired by her life are hosting a meeting to bring together all the services which can help homeless people in the town.
The event, called ‘Hope For The Homeless’, is being organised by Charlene Novak, of Lockwood, and her friend Allison Lloyd, of Quarmby.
Mum-of-four Charlene, 36, said: “I met Roxy and would buy her some food or something for her dog. I didn’t know her any better than anyone who stops to talk to her in the street but I was saddened to hear of her death.
“It got me thinking how we as a community can pool our resources.
“We don’t need to set up a new charity, we need to look at what we already have and how we can get behind existing services to better support them to make a real difference to real people's lives.”
Charlene and Alison, who have no background in helping the homeless, felt inspired to get involved. They have invited local charities to speak at the meeting and are encouraging the people of Huddersfield to join them.
Roxie’s aunt, Pat Clay Davis, has agreed to share her story at the meeting.
Charlene added: “I contacted Pat on Facebook as I wanted to have her blessing. It’s obviously a difficult time for Roxy’s family."
Pat previously told how Roxy left home at 16 and spent most of her life in the Huddersfield/Clayton West area.
Pat, 37, from Barnsley, said: “We just couldn’t fix Roxy and she was too proud to let us try. I guess our little girl was just too broken to be fixed.
“We saw her quite a bit at family gatherings but we saw less and less of her in recent years.”
The Hope For The Homeless meeting will be held at The Jubliee Centre, Paddock on March 28, from 7pm-9pm.
For more information email charlenenovak@hotmail.co.uk
