E overcame adversity, improved their mental and physical health, secured housing, and now volunteers while rebuilding her independence
E is a Polish lady who was in a domestic violent relationship which ended traumatically with her young daughter being taken into care. E lost their home and she ended up having to rent a room in a shared house which she paid for from her salary.
E unfortunately lost her job and could not pay her rent so ended up sleeping on the streets. We found E sleeping rough during a joint outreach session with the Rough Sleeping Team from Slough Borough Council and encouraged her to begin to use SHOC services.
Karolina began to support E and helped her to apply for status within the UK which she finally received, a homeless application was made and E was placed in a room in a shared house as temporary accommodation whilst her case was investigated. During this time, she continued to receive support from Karolina.
E began to open up and told Karolina that her daughter was in local authority care,
Karolina supported her to attend contact sessions and all through the court process, unfortunately this was not successful and her daughter was placed for adoption, it was Karolina who supported E attend the final goodbye meeting – a very emotional and difficult time.
Following this E’s mental and physical health deteriorated and she was supported to attend GP and hospital appointments. During this time a decision was made by her Housing Officer that E did not have a priority need for housing and was served an eviction notice to leave her temporary accommodation; this news really exacerbated her already delicate health and she sunk into a severe depression.
Karolina fought against this decision and appealed to the Rough Sleepers Team to accommodate her when the eviction notice expired, obviously there was huge concerns that if E was forced back onto the streets there would be a high risk to her.
Thankfully Karolina managed to evidence her need to be placed into alternative temporary accommodation.
Karolina continued to support E and gather all documentation that was required to move her case forward. She supported her with her ongoing health issues and provided emotional support to her.
E has now moved into her own accommodation in the private rented sector and both her mental health has improved considerably. Physically she is also getting stronger and is managing to volunteer at SHOC a couple of times a week. She hopes to soon get back to work and once again live independently.