Jasmine's story

"As a society, we must and can do better, because people are looked down upon if they go through this.”

Everything changed for Jasmine when her landlord sadly died. She was forced out of her home. A place was then allocated for her to go into a hostel which prevented her from becoming street homeless. That's when she found Crisis. To start off with, she was taking our jewellery classes. Then she secured a Crisis grant to grow her children's clothing business. It went from strength to strength, and she could build herself back up again.

Here's Jasmine's story in her own words.

Forced into homelessness

“When I moved into my home, the landlord wanted someone to stay long-term and build a home and that’s what I did – which inspired them to decorate another flat just like mine. Sadly, he passed away, and the landlord changed. I had made the place my home for six years.

I was working at the time, and then my income dropped, so I didn’t have enough for the high deposit required for another place. I went to the council and asked if they could work with me because I needed somewhere suitable as I have sickle cell disease. They wouldn’t help as I was working and privately renting. I didn’t realise that the council doesn’t step in to help until you’re officially homeless. I had nowhere else to go, so I had to go to the hostel.

Finding Crisis

“I connected with Crisis when I was at the hostel, and I would go to the jewellery classes. It was good to see a welcoming space that helped build people to stand on their own. A place that gets you over that hill and supports you to work towards not coming back to connect with them. For a lot of people, it was a place to connect and build friends."

Crisis grant

“I applied for a Crisis grant as I needed equipment to grow my business – sewing machines and a camera. I needed to do product shots and capture, visually, the work that I was doing. Getting that camera has been the thread throughout the whole thing.

For me, having product and lifestyle shots would help build a website, then make sales from there as well as trading at the markets."

Staying connected with Crisis

“I’ve stayed connected with Crisis over the years, I have run stalls and creative workshops for children and have always kept in touch so that they can share my journey to inspire other to not give up. For the past three years, every Christmas, I donate a percentage of my December sales to Crisis. What I’d love to do is be in a position where I’m donating a percentage of the whole year’s sales to Crisis.

For me, whatever I can do to help, I will try and do. I see how society treats and views someone who is homeless, and it is not good. As a society, we must and can do better, because people are looked down upon if they go through this.”