My name is Jamie Owen... I was asked whether I would be interviewed for this report because I have lived in three of the YMCA’s projects and used three of its schemes during the year I’ve been here. I agreed because I’ve had a lot of help from the staff and am happy to say that in this report.

I fell out with my mother and stepfather when I was 17 and was kicked out of the family home. I’d sort of known this would happen so I’d already found out that I could get some advice and help from an agency in the Vale where I lived. I stayed with friends and then moved in with my girlfriend. When we split up I went back to the agency who suggested I come to the YMCA. They got me a room in the emergency bed that was at The Ambassador hostel for the first night. I was scared – I didn’t know anyone who had ever stayed in a hostel and thought that they were full of druggies and violence. I found that first night daunting and didn’t really sleep - in spite of nothing actually happening my imagination went wild thinking that at any moment the door would be kicked in. The next morning I was seen by a member of staff who said I could have a room if I wanted. I lived at The Ambassador for a couple of months and then transferred to the bigger hostel at The Walk. Both hostels are better than I expected and it has been an eye opener for me. I used to work before I was homeless but didn’t think you could if you lived in a hostel. I don’t know why, perhaps it was just another thing I thought about homeless people – that they didn’t work. At the YMCA there’s something called the Work Incentive Scheme that helps you if you want to get a job and gives you extra things such as payment towards your rent when you do work. I went to the Design for Life and used the job search on the computer to find a job as a bartender. I have been working since. I have now moved from the big hostel to a smaller project where I am going to learn the things I need to know to make sure I can live on my own when I get a flat. When I lived with my girlfriend she did everything like shopping and cooking and if I’m honest I was a bit lazy about those things so didn’t bother to learn. Here I have a plan and a workbook and I’m going to start with managing money and healthy shopping and cooking then go on to understanding tenancies. I wasn’t really ready for my own place when I left home, but I will be now. I’m really looking forward to having my own place near to my work.

I want to say that the staff are all willing to help, not just the support workers, but cleaners, housing staff, receptionists and night staff too. It isn’t always easy and I haven’t done everything right, but since I’ve been here my STAR has gone up to 9 in quite a few places so I can see how well I’ve done. Being here has changed my views on homeless people too. When I see one now I’ll give them my change – I know what it’s like.
 

My name is Gareth Jones... By the time you are reading this I will have been to Milan to play football with the Wales Street Soccer team. This isn’t exactly what was on my mind when I came to live here but it’s a good result!

My life was quite ordinary – I lived happily at home until I was 18 when I moved out to live with my girlfriend. We had a baby but then split up. For complicated reasons, my girlfriend couldn’t keep our son so I applied for custody. When the judge ruled that he should live with my mum not me, I wasn’t happy, but over time I have come to see that was the right decision. I wasn’t ready to take responsibility for all the things that come with having a son – I wasn’t mature enough. I carried on working and partying hard over the next few years – I even worked in Spain as a comic for a while – but I didn’t settle anywhere. I was sofa surfing and even street homeless for a while but didn’t want to come to a hostel as I thought they were for crack heads and drunks. Someone told me about the YMCA and eventually I put my name on the list for a room. I had to ring every day to check if there was a vacancy but then I did something stupid and ended up going to prison for 2 months. I had never done anything like this before and won’t again. I was told that part of my sentence had to be spent inside to give me a shock and they were right - it did – I was scared of the place and don’t intend going back. My Mum was great – (and still is-thanks Mum) she phoned the hostel every day for me and the staff agreed to have a room ready for me on the day I came out. That was about 7 months ago.

When I came here I stood back and watched what was going on at first, I kept myself to myself - I chose who I needed to know. I often hang around with older people because I like to be guided and some older residents gave me tips. I got to know the staff and after a little incident in the first month haven’t given them any reason to give me warnings. I also saw what was on offer and it surprised me – I thought it was just a room but there is everything around you to help just hanging in your face and all you have to do is grab it. I do. I’ve always worked as a Carpet Fitter or Glazier and since prison this is the longest time I’ve been unemployed. I am on the Work Incentive Scheme though and volunteering at Oxfam for 16 hours a week. I will get all I can out of being here so when I do get my own place I will do it properly. Looking around me at people living here, some of them remind me of myself a few years ago – more interested in partying than paying the rent and keeping the rules. If I’d come here when I was 19 I’d probably not have lasted 2 months! Now I know that you can’t take everything for granted – you have to make sure the bills are paid and to keep the roof over your head first before anything else. Much as I think this is a great hostel I don’t have my son come here – I visit him at my Mum’s and we have some great times together but I can’t wait to get my own place so we can be together more often.

My name is Paul... I was placed at The Ambassador hostel by the council after being thrown out of the place I had called home for 2 years. Being homeless was something I knew nothing about – I thought homelessness was probably self inflicted and just for people who had drugs problems – not for someone like me. Since being here I have completely changed my view – not just about homelessness, but also about myself and what I can do. This is my story...

Up until I was 37 I just got on with life – I worked as a roofer and played rugby and had three children, but I am gay so I lived a “double life”, keeping my sexuality secret from most of the people I mixed with. I was doing OK, living in a flat with my 12 year old daughter, when 6 years ago something horrible from my childhood re-surfaced and I stopped coping. It was awful. I felt like I was drowning and my mind was gone. I ended up in Whitchurch hospital with a nervous breakdown and when I left hospital I went to live with a carer and her family. This didn’t work out and for 2 years I didn’t leave my room. I felt like a prisoner and they had control of my money. I like to cross dress – this is a part of me and I have done it all my life but her family took the mick out of me. Eventually my daughter challenged them and it led to a huge scene with me being taken away for my own safety by the police. This is how I came to be at the YMCA.

All I can say is that being here has made every difference in my life. When I came here it was like my mind was blocked. My doctor said it was as if there was no room in my mind to do other things. I was taking medication but didn’t like it so didn’t always take it properly. At first I didn’t know where I was but the staff really really helped me. They listened and listened and also did practical things like give me toothpaste and sort my money out. I told them everything about myself and I started to feel accepted because they didn’t take the mick – they accepted me as a person and I hadn’t felt like that before. With the doctor’s help I have come off all my medication and I feel great. As I have got more confident I have started trying other things such as joining in the activities in DFL - I’ve even been to the theatre for the first time and I’ve applied to do some voluntary work with the PDSA. My support worker tells me to take things slowly because I want to try so much he’s afraid I might run out of steam. I know he is right and I intend to try. I know I’ll have to move out of the YMCA and I’m a bit scared of this as I have had so much support here, but my support worker is helping me prepare for this and is really confident that I will manage. I am closer with my family, my children accept me, I am opening my mind to new paths to take me forward and I am looking forward to the future.

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