Homeless Trini sponsored ‘home’ in New York

Cummings, who has worked as a bouncer, door-to-door salesman, bike messenger and delivery man, became homeless when his application for legal citizenship was denied following a dispute with relatives, with whom he settled .

Despite the dangers of living on the streets in sometimes freezing conditions, Cummings has managed to stay afloat finding temporary work as a scrap collector for construction sites and has remained optimistic taking up residence in a dumpster at the corner of Spring and Wooster streets in Yonkers .

Over the years, Cummings’ bizarre living quarters has made him an urban legend to the people in the bustling downtown community of Yonkers, often startling unsuspecting persons seeking to discard waste .

Cummings, who moved to Toronto Canada as a teenager and later to the United States settling with relatives in New York, where he applied for legal citizenship status .

“I had put my immigration status in my family’s hands,” Cummings told reporters of the New York Post. “The authorities claimed that they sent documents to my former residence but I haven’t received any of it from my relatives.” Cummings has since appealed to a state senator but to no avail .

For the Trinidadian emigre, hope came in the form of two professional models, Shane Duffy and Phil Sullivan, who after going undercover in February 2016 to film a documentary on New York’s homeless, met Cummings, who shared his blankets and foodstuff with them. The duo were moved by Cummings’ kindness and offered to help improve his cramped living quarters. In an interview with the New York Post, good samaritans, Shane Duffy and Phil Sullivan explained why they wanted to sponsor Cummings .

“We (Duffy and Sullivan) wanted to repay him for the generosity he showed us so not long after filming we caught up with him and offered to repay him. He (Dean) wanted us to build something for him to live in as his current quarters lacked many basic commodities like running water.” Duffy who also works as a contractor, collaborated with a partner and spent a total of $1,500 upgrading Cummings’ makeshift home, reinforcing the dumpster’s exterior with pressure-treated wood to withstand New York’s harsh winter months. The box which is almost entirely self-sufficient relies on power via solar panels and also has USB ports for electronic devices .

Despite the much-needed aid, Sullivan insists that there is much more work to be done and has expressed his interest in continuing to work with Cummings, starting a ‘GoFundMe’ account to provide their newfound friend with a permanent home of his own .

““There is still no running water (in Cummings’ home), so I can see it being a sanitation issue with them. We would love to work with the city on something.”