This story has been featured in the isle of thanet news From homelessness and addiction to work and becoming a home owner – “do not give up on hope”
This is a short overview of my journey through the progress of being Homeless To Homeowner. I hope you guys enjoy the story. its been fun to write and go back through the experience.

I remember the day I became homeless I had a bit of a checklist for the day it went something like:

  1. Tent
  2. Location
  3. Food

I was lucky to have some money to hand. so I headed to our local shopping centre and located a camping shop where I brought a tent and a rucksack. and some basic fire-starting materials. whist I was there I brought some food to get me through the first day. the location would have to be the woods. unlike other local homeless i was not wanting to be seen I had too much dignity.

3 Months went past and I was at breaking point my circumstances where changing and I needed a change. I was dirty I smelt bad. and my addictions were getting worse.  to make things worse I was starting to lose hope, the first two months felt like a holiday the camping trip I had never experienced but it was winter and the last month hit me badly. i would do anything to change things ad take a new start.

and then out of nowhere the council offered me an emergency placement. you can read more about this on the Being Homeless Aged 18 area of my website!

Emergency accommodation in the UK Comes in many ways. for me, it was an out of season hotel because it was winter. my room was tiny I would walk in and it was a bed, cupboard, toilet and shower all within a small confined area. but it was a roof and an upgrade. I spent a good 8 Months Located in the Glenwood Hotel

but I was warm and able to wash each day, I met some good people. and within the 8 months at Glenwood, I totally cleaned my act up with Spice Misuse.  I was even in a college cause provided by the jobcentre to help me with employment. everything was looking up for me.

I remember during my college course I got a phone call. of course, I couldn’t take it but it was from an unknown landline so I was curious. but I was very pleasantly shocked during my break I called it back up.  it was the council office. they found me a flat! not a desirable one but it was a bloody upgrade and a half! I was so excited!  another journey out of homeless.

This flat had its up and downs. the towerblock was full of troublesome Nabours and constant arson attacks. I spent 3 years there but made the best of it and fought the papers to change the way the building was. I got to admit that I hardly looked after the place. although it was the closest thing I had to a home it never felt like it. and this discouraged me massively when it came to taking care of the place. but through the years it kept me safe and allowed me to build myself back up. it also gave me the independence I had so much desired for.

But something special was going to start.  josh and I had been looking to relocate for years we had been saving for a while. but I’m not sure what happened. this year things went so fast! on the 29th of October, we had a viewing to buy a house in Rochester, Kent I had lived here previously for a while.  when I was placed in Semi Independence Care At (Redacted For The Time Being) i loved the area. it was lovely.  a bit far from home.  we ended up reserving a flat on the development.  with the possibility of taking over an even better one which was going to be complete in a month instead of the following year.

the following week was hell we had to chase up the development constantly. but i remember when josh called me to say we secured the second option… he got very annoyed at me because I could not believe him until I saw it in writing and then I was over the moon we were so relieved.

Blurred in areas for Data Protection

the following month we had lots and lots of papers to read, and sign. mortgages to fulfil and all within a 4-week deadline.

the next step was securing the mortgage. this was the more challenging and demanding part. especially with the shorter deadline. but the relief when we go the message from the Lawyers.
we were now set up to move in on the 30th of September.

Blurred For Data Protection in some areas.

handed keys in on the 30th of September and we were given our home tour the same day.
{INSERT IMAGE (Home Tour)}

and by the next week, we were fully moved in. I then spent another week getting my old flat back into good enough condition to hand back to the local council. the move was a stressful experience but one that I was grateful to be able to go through.

it shows that even when you’re at you’re lowest you should not give up on hope! you just don’t know what is waiting for you around the corner

Thanks for reading the first “Postive aimed blog” there is going to be quite a few posts over the next year which will take a negative subject and focus on the positives. as I’ve just moved I’ve started with this subject but next month will be one where I focus on homelessness.

as always I hope you enjoyed this story if so, leave a message on social media or via the website. hope you have a great day. Don’t give up hope!