Esther’s abusive partner was in prison. Her neighbours were harassing her because of him. Things with her family weren’t good either. Her mental health got really bad and she ended up in a hospital in Bristol.
When Esther arrived at drop-in she was at risk of entering street sex work. She’d arrived with another service user and was sofa-surfing with people who weren’t safe for her. Caseworker Alexis met with Esther quickly so that she could get a lot more support outside of drop-in, being met where she was at, being encouraged and being linked to support groups around her drug use and mental health.
Caseworker Sophie completed her housing application asap. From the Council’s point of view, Esther would be a low priority because she was from out of town. Fortunately, though, she was reached by the Council’s own Streetwise team which works with people sleeping rough. They contacted us and, because we’d already done lots of background work, they could give extra weight to the housing application.
Esther is now housed and she’s in a much better place emotionally. Having a home has helped her to find some stability. Relationships with some of her family have really improved. Jane’s been working with her, looking at rehab, and she’s doing some awesome voluntary work in the community! These are brave steps to transformation.
