Case Studies

Terry's story Terry was offered a driving job in our warehouse in Silvertown. Terry, a man in his 50’s, was born in this country but had lived overseas for a number of years. He was no longer in contact with his family and had no friends in this country. This resulted in him living in a large hostel in Central London. Due to the high rents charged they had a policy that they couldn’t accommodate working residents, so Terry was given two weeks to move out. He was left with the choice of giving up his job or being homeless. We were able to offer him a room in one of our supported houses. This enabled him to carry on with his job in the warehouse, while having a stable base. When Terry completed his time after 6 months of working, training and living with us he decided that he no longer wanted to live in London. Working and living with us gave him the means and confidence to find work outside of London and he moved out of London into private rented accommodation.   Mohammed's story Like many young people Mohammed found the strains of living with his family were too much and they asked him to leave. He moved into our supported house for 18-24year olds. This is a jobs led hostel and residents who are not working are expected to be out between 10am-4pm during the week, using this time to look for work or take part in training. Mohammed was offered an unpaid placement position at the First Fruit warehouse. This enabled him to use his time to develop his skills and confidence. After being on the placement for 4 weeks he moved into a 51 week paid training position with us where he gained his forklift licence as well as an NVQ in warehousing. Mohammed found work in another warehouse and was able to move out into private rented accommodation. We were able to offer him a room in one of our supported houses. This enabled him to carry on with his job in the warehouse, while having a stable base. Angela’s Story  I have lived away from my own family since I was 7 years old. I was first taken to Cotonou in the Republic of Benin as a house slave. Then the family came to live in England. In 2004 I was treated badly and sometimes beaten, I was passed on to two other families to look after their children. I never had good times. No way! I felt that I was not able to go out freely or do anything to better my situation. After two years I realised I needed to take control of my own life and so I left the family. Someone I had met when living with this family allowed me to share her room. I attended some courses and gained some IT qualifications until her landlord was not happy and then I had to leave. I met a man and was able to get illegal work in the firm he managed although I didn’t know about illegal working then and was taken by the Home Office in a raid on the firm. We became close friends and later on he began to talk about marriage and visiting my family back home. I felt I had finally got someone by my side that cared for me. Because I believed what he said I slipped into a deeper relationship and finally I became pregnant. Things became difficult and the money to pay for my room was not being paid so eventually I had to move out. This was a very stressful time as my baby was to be born soon. I stayed in hospital for 10 days because I was homeless. They then told me to go to the homeless persons unit. By then Alternatives had put me in contact with Just Homes. I feel I’ve got a family now and it is “Good! Great!” I feel now able to expand my thinking. I want to find work ,to be able to study catering. I want to own my own Business. Miha’s Story My husband brought me here from Pakistan. He beat me and behaved badly. He does not want my baby. He abused me and told me I was no good and that my house was bad. He talked and had affairs all the time to other women. He also says bad things about my family. All the time mental torture. My uncle’s friend’s family took me in. I went to the hospital when I was having my baby. My midwife told me to go to Alternatives as my accommodation was not suitable. It is really very helpful to me. Without Just Homes where would I go? What would I eat? There is no family help. I think it is a heaven for me. The name Just Homes is like new life for helping women because they try to help us and give us confidence and help us to work. Sunny I had a full-time employment working in construction earning just about £500 a week. I was comfortably living in a shared rented flat with some of my friends. However, the company I worked for has to cut down a considerable amount of employees due to the financial crisis. It was unfortunate that I was one of the employees who had to lose my job. This had made my life very difficult with no more money coming in, I could no longer afford the rent and had to give up the flat and start living with friends sleeping in sofas.   I tried turning things around on my own but the fact that I had no where to live made in extremely difficult. I then went to seek some advice at Eastham local service centre. One of the workers contacted Just Homes for a place to stay.   Staff at Just Homes then contacted me and arranged for an interview. Once the interview was done and I got an offer to move in. The Manager then gave me an induction showing around the house. Staff at Just Homes helped me with my CV and gave me advice on the job market. I now have a place to live and start looking for jobs with help from the staff at Just Homes. Stone: I have been living with my grand mother for the last 5 years because my parent’s house is over crowded. As my grand mother had to move in to a sheltered accommodation, I have to find a new place because it’s against the rules of the accommodation. Therefore I contacted the Housing options centre to help me find a place to live. They got in touch with the Just Homes who then gave me a place to live. Since I moved into the hostel, I have attended a two week’s placement in a warehouse and now I am working full-time and paying my own rent. B: My first encounter with First Fruit Family was in the summer of 2003. I was in desperate need of accommodation but I didn't have any funds as I had just lost my job. My now local Church referred me to First Fruit and, after an interview; I was offered a room at their Cumberland Road hostel. My stay at Cumberland Road allowed me to get enough time and support to refocus myself and therefore my life. First Fruit support team was always available and ready to offer guidance on various areas. I found the team flexible; ready to meet each resident at the point of their needs; with support ranging from dealing with Social Services; job applications; rehabilitation programs referrals; to helping residents at Cumberland Road maintain a healthy relationship... I have now moved from Cumberland Road hostel but remain in the First Fruit and Just Homes Family by way of the employment I was offered while in the accommodation. I have now been managing the First Fruit sewing business for the last three years. I can safely say that First Fruit and Just Homes were and continue to be instrumental in my personal development.