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Thanks to your support
there is a life beyond homelessness

How Aaron put homelessness behind him

 

Aaron’s homelessness began when his relationship with his girlfriend ended. He didn’t have the option of living with family, and because Aaron struggled with health challenges, he had no reliable income to rent a home. 

He was forced to sofa surf with different people for years, whilst waiting on the council list for a home. “Sofa surfing was really unsteady. They could chuck you out at any time. You just never know what’s going to happen.”  

That was until “a Universal Credit member put me in touch with Crisis. They started helping me ever since.” Crisis supported Aaron in many ways, including helping him through the benefits process; it took months of hard work, but Aaron’s application was eventually successful.  

While this was happening, Aaron was also growing in life skills and over time Aaron’s lead worker noticed he was visibly relaxed and had gained so much confidence. 

“I’d like to thank Crisis, especially. They’ve been with me for months and months. They’ve all been so helpful and they’re the ones that got me where I am today.”  

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How your support helps people out of homelessness

Welcome

We offer new members initial needs assessments where we can talk through their situation and make a plan together. People can need a range of help from claiming benefits they're entitled to, to building their confidence and independence, or taking a qualification that could help them find work.

Wellbeing

Through group sessions and one-to-one therapy with clinical psychologists, your support helps members improve their mental and physical wellbeing. We work particularly closely with people experiencing complex mental health problems too, helping them get specialist help and accommodation as urgently as possible.

Skills

Members can access a vast array of courses and qualifications online - helping them take another critical step forwards. We also cover vocational skills, including retail and hospitality traineeships in our shops.

Employment

Across our services, we're seeing more people facing homelessness after losing their job during the pandemic. We're supporting people to find work, with specialist teams who connect people with employers, as well as help with CVs and interview practice.

Hidden Homelessness

Homelessness doesn’t look one way. When we think about homelessness, we tend to go straight to the most visible form - rough sleeping. Which makes sense as this is the type of homelessness we see as we travel around our towns and cities.

But homelessness can also be less visible or hidden. Many people deal with their situation informally – for example, they might be sleeping on a different friend’s sofa every week.

It’s estimated that 170,000 people are forced to sofa surf, it is the most common form of homelessness and it’s hidden from our view. 

Sadly, the scars it leaves behind are often hidden too, which means it can take many months to heal from the physical and mental trauma. And that’s why we need your help. 

There are so many ways Crisis supports people sofa surfing just like Aaron, from providing legal advice to running classes so people can develop new skills. Every inch of support adds up to a life beyond homelessness.  

 
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