In this episode of the Rural Homelessness Podcast, host Matt McChlery speaks with Nicole, a mother of three, who shares her personal journey through homelessness. Nicole discusses the circumstances that led to her becoming homeless, her experiences in temporary accommodation, and the vital support she received from the Ferry Project. The conversation highlights the emotional impact of homelessness, the misconceptions surrounding it, and the importance of community support. Nicole also reflects on her current life and future hopes, emphasizing that homelessness can happen to anyone and that understanding and compassion are crucial in addressing this issue.
Links
ferryproject.org.uk
Takeaways
- Homelessness can take many forms, not just street living.
- Temporary accommodation can still be a form of homelessness.
- Support from organizations like the Ferry Project is crucial.
- Emotional and mental impacts of homelessness are significant.
- Misconceptions about homelessness often lead to stigma.
- Homelessness can happen to anyone due to various circumstances.
- Community support can make a huge difference in recovery.
- It's important to listen to individual stories of homelessness.
- Children can adapt remarkably well to challenging situations.
- Understanding homelessness requires empathy and awareness.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to the Rural Homelessness Podcast
01:27 Nicole's Journey into Homelessness
04:46 Life in Temporary Accommodation
08:39 Support from the Ferry Project
11:05 Misconceptions About Homelessness
13:27 Current Life and Future Hopes
This is the Rural Homelessness Podcast, where we discuss the important issues around rural homelessness, hear from those affected by it and offer some solutions. Brought to you by the award-winning Homelessness Charity of the Fairy Project, welcome to the Rural Homelessness Podcast. Hello and welcome to this episode of the Rural Homelessness Podcast. I am your host, Matt McCleary. Thank you so much for joining me. Now on today's show, we are going to be hearing from another person who has personally experienced homelessness for themselves. And today, I am going to be speaking to Nicole, and she's going to be sharing a little bit about her journey. But I just want to say a thank you to you who are listening to this podcast, because it's really important that we elevate awareness, understanding, and also the conversation around rural homelessness in the UK today. So just by listening to this podcast, you are already playing your part. And if you want to do even more, please give it a like and also share it. Share it on your social media, let other people also hear about what's going on, what the challenges are, and also to hear stories like that of Nicole, who have experienced it for themselves. So I chatted with Nicole a little while ago, and this is her story. So hello, Nicole. Welcome to the podcast. Hello. Thanks for agreeing to chat with me today. First of all, let's just start off by finding out a little bit about what your life was like before you came to the very project. So I was a mother of three children working full time in a privately rented accommodation. And yeah, just quite a steady, normal, mundane life. And so what led to you becoming homeless? So I left my home due to my ex-partner. I was effectively removed from my safety. And then I went into a B&B for eight weeks, and then following on from that, pieces with my children, I then moved into part of the ferry project, which is their flat with my children. And I had nine months there. So you weren't actually on the streets at all? No, no. I never effectively spent any time on the streets. I have children. So I was housed as I was removed, like moved from my safety. I was temporarily put into abandoned breakfast until there was further accommodation available for me and the children. That's interesting, isn't it? Well, for someone who doesn't know a lot about homelessness, I think a lot of the time the perception is you have to be living in a cardboard box under a tree somewhere for you to be a homeless person. Absolutely not. Yeah, I was I was classed as homeless for that nine and a half month period of my life. I was homeless, I was in temporary accommodation. Obviously, I have my children, so I was never street homeless, but yeah, we was homeless. We left out home with two suitcases. And even though you weren't on the streets, that still must have had an emotional and a sort of a mental impact on you and your children. What was that like? Oh, absolutely. I mean, initially the period that I was in the B&B, my older children didn't stay with me, which was really tough, but we was in one room. I had a baby, so we he they stayed with their with their dad, who was really helpful. But yeah, that was really tough, just being without my children for that period of time. And then even when we went into the part of the ferry project, the flat that we lived in, it was it was full and it was amazing. I'm very grateful, but it wasn't our own home. We didn't have the space that we all needed. My children didn't have rooms, you know, we lived in a very small area for a long time. What was the typical day for you like when you were homeless? Was it just sitting in the B&B all day, or how it would a day look like? When I was in the B&B, I'd be completely honest, I spent a lot of time on my mum's. I remember having a sickness bug whilst I was in there, which was really hard, because I was in a bomb room, my baby was around five, six months old at the time, and we was just in this one room. Nobody could come, you know, it was not the I just had to deal with that. Spent a lot of time out when I was in the B&B, when we moved to the flat, we got in quite a nice little routine. And I obviously spent a lot more time at home. There was cooking facilities. I had another and all of my things. I mean, but when I was in the B&B, there was there was no facilities. There was a shared kitchen, but not a very nice shared kitchen. There was no facilities for anything, really. What would you say would be one of your biggest challenges that you faced when you were home Probably not having my elder children for that period of time was really tough. And just not having a home, that is just I'd lived on my own in my own, although privately rented home for a lot of years, not having your own space, you know, not being able to do things that you wanted to do, being quite confined to an environment and really tough. When you were homeless, were there some helpful things that people did for you, or maybe there are some things that you wished people could have done for you when you were in that situation? I will be forever grateful to the ferry project, to the staff at Mill Close, the support that I was given, just for having somebody there, somebody to listen, somebody that understands, soon Pete, the staff there were just incredible. I was always there to listen, always there to offer support, understood where I was, make sure that everything was in place, even throughout the process, like the really hard times and then you find a house on home link and everything you ever wanted and you then you have that period where you're bidding and you don't know where you sit and then you think you might get offered it and then you get knocked back at the last second, the whole process was really hard, but it would have been a lot harder without the support that I was given. What did you feel like when you first came to the ferry project, you were in this B&B and then you sort of came to the ferry, what was that like for you, what emotions were they, what positives or negatives did you experience? It was really overwhelming and I've gone from being in this small room to all being, you know, our fact was small but it was our real own space, you know, we could have some of our own belongings, you could put clothes away, you could cook your own food, it was overwhelming but it was amazing and even the support on the day that we moved in and the caretaker helping to move things in and people being there and just knowing that there's somebody there, if you need something that was, you know, dealing with communication and mail, all of the things that come with leaving a home and having, I mean I had issues with an electricity bill on my previous accommodation, the staff at Mill Close helped me sort that out, was able to help me deal with all of those things where when you're on your own and you're in this situation, you're homeless and everything feels too much but when you've got somebody that you can go to and show these letters and they support you to work through it and I mean I'd been dealing with all of that kind of thing for a long time and I've done my own but even just, it was all just so overwhelming, you don't know where to turn. And you already mentioned that the wonderful support that you were given as well as a roof and somewhere to stay, has the ferry project helped you in other ways, have you learned new skills or anything like that whilst you've been at the ferry? I know there is a lot of things that I could have engaged in but obviously my situation in some ways was different to say somebody that was street homeless, which is why it's really interesting hearing your story because it is quite different in contrast to a lot of other people's. And I think a lot of people don't realise that the ferry project don't just support people that are street homeless, there is another side to that so yeah, I know there was, I know that they do a lot offer a lot of things but in my situation, I mean like cooking skills, things like that, I didn't need, I had those skills any night, yeah. But knowing that they were there and if you did need them. What would you say would be one of your high nights from your time at the ferry? This is something that you're like most proud of. I think just how far we came, how far we came as a family and I'm very proud of my children, how they adapted, I mean I was in a whole new area and so far away from everything they knew, how they accepted sharing bedrooms, being you know, not having all of their belonging. Yeah, just really proud of them and how they dealt with it and even to this day and when you, even when I have parents evening things and the teachers will say to me, you would never know that they've been through the things that they have. Thank you for sharing part of your story with us, that's really insightful but just on a more general term really. Do you think there are any misconceptions about homelessness out there, sort of people in the general public? Absolutely and I think a lot of people will, you know, somebody's homeless, so that must mean they're a drug user, an alcoholic or they're an ascender, all of those kind of things and I think that I never expected to be in the circumstance that I was, you never know what way your life will turn and it's very easy to judge but actually nobody knows what anybody's circumstances are or how they've become to that situation and people are very quick to sort of sell their homeless and then this and that and you know, and I am very open, I tell people, I have conversations with people and people do sort of, oh, I'm shocked that you are homeless but it can happen to anyone. It can, a lot of a job or a breakdown of a relationship, you know, landlords selling the house, repossession, all of those things and it can happen to anybody and it is a process that you don't realise the sport out there until you need it. Yeah. What would you like people to know about homelessness and those who experience it? The stigma around homelessness is not true and everybody has a story to tell and for people to understand that. And you've come a long way since you were in those situations. So what is your life like now? Where are you now? We have our home home, social housing, we've been there just under a year now. I'm back at work. My children are settled, they're in school and child minders, we have a really nice life again. So it's really good to hear, that's great Nicole. And what are your hopes for the future? What's next for you? Just to continue really, on working again and that's really, really good and positive, just to continue where we are and to continue having this nice, happy, settled, quiet life. Yeah, that's great. And just as we're coming to the end, can you sum up how the Fairy Project has helped you? What difference has it made in your life? The Fairy Project made a massive difference in my life. Without the Fairy Project, I would have probably been in the B&B for a really long time, which meant I wouldn't have been having my older children without the support from the Fairy Project and the understanding and the people around you and on the bad days and having all of that help, we just wouldn't be where we are today without the Fairy Project. Well, thank you, Nicole, and I do hope that the sunny day needs to continue. Thank you. Thank you for your time and thank you for sharing your story with us. Thank you. That was Nicole sharing her story of her experience with homelessness with us here on the Rural Homelessness Podcast. It just goes to show that homelessness and the experience of it can be very different and take many different forms depending on our individual circumstances. Thank you to Nicole for sharing her story with us just to let you know to be transparent and open with you that Nicole is not her real name. She has asked for us to anonymize her contribution to the podcast, so we've honored that and that is what we have done. But thank you very much for listening to this episode of the Rural Homelessness Podcast. A new episode comes out twice a month on the 1st and on the 15th. So I look forward to having the pleasure of your company again really soon on another edition of the Rural Homelessness Podcast. See you soon. Thank you. Goodbye. Thank you for listening to the Rural Homelessness Podcast brought to you by The Ferry Project. Visit our website on www.fairyproject.org.uk. [music]
