Homeless woman sets up home office with computer and coffee machine inside shop sign
A woman has been discovered living inside a shop sign with a home office set-up that included a computer, desk and even a coffee maker.
Builders at the site in Midland, Michigan, first noticed something was amiss on April 23, when they caught sight of an extension cord leading into the five-foot-wide sign on top of a Family Fare store.
Local police officer Brennon Warren told press on Thursday: ‘It’s a story that makes you scratch your head, just somebody living up in a sign.
‘There was some flooring that was laid down. A mini desk, her clothing, a Keurig coffee maker.
‘[There was also] a printer and a computer – things you’d have in your home.’
He went on: ‘I honestly don’t know how she was getting up there.
‘She didn’t indicate [how] either.
‘We provided her with some information about services in the area.
‘She apologised and continued on her way. Where she went from there, I don’t know.’
The woman reportedly explained to officers she had been living inside the sign for some time while working at a different location.
She is not understood to have faced any charges and has since vacated the premises.
SpartanNash, the parent company of Family Fare, issued a public statement in which they said their employees had treated the woman with ‘compassion and professionalism.’
They added: ‘Ensuring there is ample, safe affordable housing continues to be a widespread issue nationwide that our community needs to partner in solving.’
Midland, where the store is located, is approximately 130 miles north of the city of Detroit, which has long had one of the nation’s worst rates of homelessness.
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