A single mother who was evicted by the Bermuda Housing Corporation moved to clear her name after BHC deputy chairman David Burch spoke to the Island?s media about her on Tuesday.

Sharlita Steede, 35, said she had obviously hit a nerve at BHC when she complained about being evicted from emergency housing at Southside for being over $4,000 in arrears on her rent.

?I am a young Bermudian trying to get a chance,? said the mother-of-three.

She said that even though she could pay the rent to BHC, she had stopped when the quango told her she could not bring her 15-year-old son to live with her and her other two children.

?My son is 15 years old,? she said. ?You do not separate children. They said that in emergency housing I could not take my son. But there was another woman there who had her son there. So, I stopped paying the rent. I felt like I was being cheated out of my son?s life.?

Ms Steede denied allegations made by Lt. Col. David Burch at a Press conference on Tuesday that she had travelled overseas while not paying her BHC rent.

?He said I made a trip overseas,? she said. ?I have not been away at all this year. The last time I went away was in December, 2003. My mom bought the ticket for me. I do not know where Burch got his information but he can go to the airlines and check himself.?

Her mother also confirmed that she bought the ticket for her daughter

Lt. Col. Burch also claimed that Ms Steede had purchased a car after going to the emergency housing facility at 632 Southside.

?The car I bought last year was from my sister?s friend,? she said. ?Do you know how old that car was? Sixteen years old. I did not buy it right off. They let me pay for it monthly.?

Lt. Col. Burch also said that she ?failed to comply with money management advice? that BHC had offered.

But Ms Steede said she was only offered advice after the eviction notice.

Ms Steede said she was making around $400 a week, working five days in the produce section of a local supermarket.

She said she did not know exactly what her wages were at present, because she had recently increased her schedule to seven days a week.

?I wish I could go away but I have to work seven days a week,? Ms Steede said.

?That man needs to get his facts straight before he puts my name in the paper.?

Community activist Raymond Russell, who has been helping Ms Steede with her guest house accommodation and her search for a new home, said yesterday he was horrified at Lt. Col. Burch?s comments.

?Taking into account the Premier?s supposed new social agenda, I have to wonder if this is a part of it,? he said.

?I hope that the Premier will let the people of Bermuda just how this new Social Agenda will pertain to mothers who through no fault of their own can get behind in their rent.?

?Under no circumstances should children be evicted, especially when they will now be separated from their mother,? he said. ?This could sow the seeds of social disorder for them at an early age for which we will pay in years to come.?

Mr. Russell said money that child support from absent fathers should not be included in single mothers? incomes due to the high rate of delinquency.

?I don?t see how mothers who are on the board of the BHC could go along with such an decision to evict children and put them on the streets,? he said. ?We should have a law on the books to stop parents who are receiving assistance and delinquent fathers from taking trips abroad.?

Mr. Russell agreed that people should meet their financial obligations and should be held accountable for their actions.

But he said: ?If this woman is even making, say, $450 a week or $1,800 a month and her rent is $540 for a one-bedroom apartment, that leaves less than $1,300 a month to pay for groceries, school uniforms, bus fares, nursery fees, one child has asthma, she has to pay for medical expenses, telephone and so on. Is it any surprise that she has difficulty meeting her obligations?

?Even if the mother has not met her obligations I know that I am doing the right thing because of the children.?

Attempts to contact Lt. Col. Burch for comment yesterday were unsuccessful.