Kelly works in our Independent Living Service, which provides tenancy support. The ILS team aims to prevent repeated homelessness by supporting people to maintain new and current tenancies.
Kelly first met Marcus* when he was referred to Emmanuel House by the Street Outreach Team. He had been found rough sleeping in Nottingham.
He had left his family home due to a relationship breakdown between himself, his parents and his siblings. He was having severe difficulties at home, which included emotional abuse and victim blaming. This is when someone is made to feel as though they’re the reason they’re being treated badly by their perpetrator. He was struggling with his own mental health and felt isolated and not listened to. With his home life being so out of control, he felt he had no option but to leave the family home and sleep on the streets.
Kelly supported Marcus emotionally, liaising with him and his family.
“I talked to him on the phone and we met regularly, even if there were no new updates, but just to make sure he knew he had an avenue of safety where he felt his needs and feelings were being taken into account.”
Kelly
Marcus had no money of his own, so Kelly supported him to make an application for Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payments, as he was suffering with his mental health and had learning difficulties.
Kelly contacted Marcus’s GP to ensure he was taking the right medication.
She also spoke to his college tutors on his behalf, who gave him more time to study for his construction course.
“I really didn’t want Marcus to give up on his course, as he was learning about the construction sector and I knew it would help him to get work in the future. The college were fantastic and really supportive, which meant Marcus could complete his course. I attended appointments with him so that he could feel confident in expressing himself.”
Kelly
Kelly continued to support Marcus with his relationship with his family, empowering him to express his feelings in a calm and productive way. He returned to the family home but it led to more relationship breakdowns. Marcus decided he wanted his own place and together they looked for accommodation, securing a shared property of his own.
After completing his college course, Kelly helped Marcus to write his CV. He’s now working on a building site and he’s working towards setting up his own business in property development.
*Names have been changed for security reasons.
Emmanuel House’s purpose is to tackle isolation, vulnerability and homelessness within our community by providing an inclusive, compassionate service to people who need help, whether it’s providing brief reassurance or more in-depth and prolonged support.
If you’d like to support Emmanuel House and our tenancy support work, please consider making a donation.
