Steven's Story

Steven was a care leaver referred to hyh by his personal advisor to help him find accommodation after being evicted from his temporary accommodation due to anti-social behaviour. His behaviour meant that the council had found him to be ‘intentionally homeless’, and he was very much at risk of facing street homelessness.

He had service charge arrears from a previous supported hostel he had lived in, a history of aggressive behaviour, had made verbal threats, was hanging out with people who were not helping him make decent choices for his life, and on one occasion had been known to threaten someone’s life whilst carrying a knife.

Alongside this, Steven was very vulnerable, was struggling with drug use, suffered with feelings of rejection because it was not suitable for him to live with his family and he would become frustrated and violent with his parents when he faced this reality. He found it hard to remain engaged for long enough to get proper ongoing support to turn his life around from professionals. When asked what he really wanted in life, he replied, ‘stability.’ He knew he needed to grow up, and that it was difficult for him to keep away from the negative impact of his peer group, whilst wanting their friendship.

The team at hyh worked together with his personal advisor to investigate as many accommodation options as possible, completed applications to night shelters, hostels and accommodation projects, but found this very limited due to his history. However, his personal advisor took him to the interviews he was offered, and he was eventually accepted for a new accommodation project on the opposite side of the county which will give him a high level of support and life skill development.

Steven began to realise that if he engaged with his workers, he could make a difference for himself. He has now accepted some help to reduce his drug use, is spending a lot of time seeing his family in more suitable ways, is working very well with his personal advisor and hyh, and despite having to wait much longer for the project to open due to Covid-19 issues, he has remained incredibly patient and shown a high level of maturity, proving that he wants to grow up, but needs support to do so.

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