When Lisa (19) was referred to our floating support scheme by her Local Authority, her rent was already well in arrears...

Our support worker helped her to identify the reasons behind this and worked with her to help turn things around.

After the death of her father four years ago, Lisa spent a great deal of time caring for her sick mother. With a 15-month old daughter and another child on the way, this made huge demands on her emotionally and physically.

The stress of this added to her mother's death brought on bouts of depression and anxiety. As Lisa’s rent and debts started to escalate and the relationship with her partner became violent, she turned to drugs to help her cope. 

Our support worker quickly arranged for rent arrears to be cleared so Lisa’s home was secure. She then helped with plans for debt repayment and budgeting.

Lisa was referred to counselling to deal with her bereavement and other emotional issues. She was also given support to access substance misuse services, which she could attend once her support worker had found her affordable child-care. 

“I feel like there’s finally a light at the end of the tunnel.  My support worker’s been so kind and helpful – a real rock when I’ve needed her.

I’ve still got a way to go, dealing with the loss of my parents plus getting off the drugs. But just having some time off from looking after the kids gives me a chance to focus on these things. 

Sorting out the debts has been a huge weight off my mind. I now want to get on a course to develop my interior design skills. I’ve even been able to use them at home and redecorate the house – it’s a big improvement.”