Stephen is a lone parent to a five-year old daughter.
When he first contacted the Your Home Service, he was living in damp flat on the fifth floor of his building, where his neighbours would play loud music throughout the night. Stephen and his daughter would often spend nights sleeping on the couch at a friend’s house in order to get away from their living conditions. Stephen had seen a flyer for the Your Home Service and referred himself. A support worker from our team was able to meet with Stephen, hear a bit more about his situation, and visit his flat to see what condition it was in. Stephen shared other factors with his support worker which made maintaining his tenancy more difficult, such as the debt he had accrued, and ongoing knee pain which meant climbing the stairs to the fifth floor was challenging.
Stephen and his Your Home worker put together an action plan to address the many challenges concerning his tenancy. Stephen remarked that his primary concern was “for his daughter safety” and that she should be able to “grow up in a flat she would want to call home”. Our support worker made contact with the social landlord who was able to come and view the property for themselves. The damp arising in the flat was deemed not to be the fault of the of resident, but a larger structural issue. The support worker was also able to help Stephen arrange with his GP for letter to be written explaining the diagnosis for Stephen knee pain which meant a fifth floor flat was unsuitable.
Following further discussion with our support worker, Stephen’s social landlord agreed for a transfer to a new property in better condition on a lower floor, under the condition that Stephen set up a repayment plan for his debt. Our support worker was able support Stephen to carry a benefits calculation to make sure he was receiving everything he was entitled to. A reasonable and affordable repayment plan was set up, and Stephen’s worker provided ongoing support with his income maximisation.
Before moving into the new property, Stephen and his support worker worked on an application for a grant which would furnish the flat in time for their move in date. The grant was approved, and Stephen and his daughter moved into a new place ‘they could call home’.
At the end of support, Stephen and his worker were able to look back on all that had been achieved by working together.
'All I needed was someone to believe in me, and you did' - Stephen.