Carl is a 67 year old man who attended our drop-in service, where he presented himself as homeless after being evicted from his council property. Carl had struggled due to the death of his wife and life seemed quite impossible without her, he accumulated over £3,500 worth of debt due to non-payment of rent and his mental health had deteriorated significantly. Carl needed support to acquire new accommodation and was assigned one of our homelessness workers.
In addition to making referrals to housing agencies Jules provided food bank vouchers, pension assistance, clothing, toiletries. Our housing team accompanied Carl to his Lighthouse housing assessment, but the process meant that there was a wait until final decisions were made. Carl was placed in a town centre B & B and stayed there for a few weeks by Chesterfield Homeless team. Carl was accepted by Lighthouse and Pathways covered the service charge costs so he could move in as quickly as possible (Carl wasn’t able to afford this). Carl moved in in August 2022 and has flourished in his new environment. Shortly after being housed Carl started attending groups at Pathways. He is a positive, chatty and kind gentleman who is liked by all and although he clearly still hugely feels the loss of wife he manages to talk about her often and leaves each session having had much laughter and also having achieved some great work. Carl has even upcycled some pieces of furniture for other people using our service that can’t attend group. Carl love’s making people laugh, he seems settled, and content and we very much enjoy seeing his confidence continue to grow.
This is what Carl said about us:
“I was at my lowest ebb when I walked through that door, without Jules and Pathways I am sure I would still be at rock bottom or no longer here. Jules has always been there for me, so kind and helpful. The restoration group every Friday gives me structure each week, the banter and company lifts me, I actually enjoy it that much I wish restoration group was on every day. All the staff at Pathways are first rate.”