REAL LIFE: Justin's one of the family

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When family circumstances left him homeless in April 2010, Justin moved into Supported Lodgings. At the time he was placed with Rita, Justin had significant hearing loss and one of his goals was to get this investigated .

 

“The hardest thing for me was first coming into supported lodgings because I was very nervous,” said Justin. “But everyone was so friendly and kind that I settled in really quickly. Since being  with Rita, and with the help of my support worker, I have had grommets fitted and my hearing has been vastly improved.

 

“Being in Rita’s home has given me confidence - I have learnt to cook, do my washing and even sew a button on. It has taught me independence, my Rita, my lodging provider, is brilliant. I am now very excited about moving on, but a little sad as well. YMCA Supported Lodgings gave me a chance - when you are trusted by someone you want to prove yourself. There aren’t many people out there who would trust a complete stranger.”

 

Rita has been a YMCA Norfolk lodging provider for three years. “The best thing about being a lodging provider is when the young person moves on successfully and you know you have done a good job. Being a lodging provider has been better than I thought, to be honest I thought the young people would all be abusive drug users but the young people I have had have mostly been the victims of circumstances.

 

“They haven’t all been success stories and that’s when I have really valued the support from the YMCA. But overall I have had some fantastic young people and it is so rewarding to see them settled. Our relationship is very good, Justin is like part of the family - he has grown more confident in fact he has grown up a lot in the last year, I will feel sad to see him go. Justin says he will often pop in for a cup of tea he will always be welcome.”