Case Study of the month

I’m Martin and I’m 27 years old. I’m here because I split up with my girlfriend. It’s been hard and I feel that I shouldn’t be here.

I slept rough in Leicester for three weeks before I went into Mayfield House for 5 weeks. Now I live at The Hollies. It is more independent here and I like the freedom of this place. At the moment I am focusing on finding employment. I have a four year old son; I want to be a proper dad. This drives me on and gets me through. My son is started school in September and I want more of a hands on approach with him, it is important for me to be around for him at this time. I would love a place of my own so that I could pick my son up from school and take him home with me. I have been in the homelessness system before and I feel like I need to break out this time.

Action Homeless has helped me a lot. There are lots of things on offer. I have been through a really tough time and it is good to be getting everything sorted. Action Homeless has offered me more of a support package. I am working with Action Paint at the moment on an 8 week trial. They start you off slowly doing 15 hours per week. It’s great because it is giving me an opportunity to prove to future employers that I am reliable and trustworthy. I have a two week forklift driving placement coming up which will be another opportunity for me to improve my CV and show skills to future employers. I have also started to attend the monthly RAP (Residents Actively Participating) meetings. I enjoy doing sporty and physical activities so I am really keen to get involved in the RAP football tournaments.