Chloe, 23, came to Centrepoint a year ago when her mum was taken to hospital after suffering a stroke. Following a family breakdown, Chloe sofa surfed with a cousin, until she was referred to Centrepoint for support. She's now about to start an apprenticeship with the local authority and looking to move into a place of her own.
Finding her way to Centrepoint
Chloe, 23, came to Centrepoint a year ago when her mum was taken to hospital after suffering a stroke. Her family home became unsuitable for her to stay after she and her family fell out, causing a breakdown in the relationship, and Chloe had to leave. She sofa surfed with her cousin for a while but before long, her partner’s social worker got in touch with Centrepoint to refer her for supported accommodation.
Chloe found out on the same day that she had been accepted and a room was made available for her at a supported accommodation service. “That day I got a text message saying this is when your meeting is with Centrepoint, please attend. I’ve gone to this meeting by myself, and I was told that very same day I could move in.”
At first, Chloe found it a difficult step to move into the accommodation and was worried about living independently after staying with family her whole life. However, she recognised that she needed to be there and that it might help her to reach her next step. “I didn’t want to stay here at all. I’ve never lived independently before and I was like, I can’t do it. I didn’t want to be here, but I knew I had to”.
Settling in
After finding it initially hard to settle, Chloe developed some close relationships with the support workers who have helped her during her stay. She remembers appreciating how flexible they were when it came to providing advice and guidance in a way that worked best for her, incorporating key work sessions into daily activities, helping to take some of the pressure off those meetings. “He said to me, if you need to do like shopping or cleaning, we can do supported sessions then. We can do that if you need that”.
Whilst living with Centrepoint, Chloe has also made close friends with another resident and has found that having a space of her own has meant that they can do things that they enjoy, like gaming and hanging out. “If I’m not seeing my partner, I’m usually seeing my friend because I have one of the bigger rooms downstairs and my friend has a bit of a smaller room, so I might just come down to my room and sit and just talk and play games and stuff”.
Learning new skills
Whilst living with Centrepoint, she recognised there were independent living skills and experiences that she had not had before, such as with paying bills or general household activities. Through the supported environment and with the help of her key workers she’s been able to grow and develop knowledge in these areas and take those vital steps towards independent living.
“I learned that I need to manage my council tax because in the smaller rooms you didn’t have to pay it but now, I’m in a bigger room I have to. When I lived with my mum, she did it herself. But I've learned a lot of things that I probably should have learned when I was younger rather than you come into somewhere new and don’t know what to do”.
“I’m trying to grow my life skills in general. Because I was adopted, I’ve been coddled most of my life. So, I’m trying to learn skills that benefit me that I should probably have learnt at a much younger age rather than being completely like I don’t know what I’m meant do”.
Now that Chloe has learnt these important independent skills and has been putting them into practice, she’s been sharing her newfound knowledge with her friend to support him with his move on.
“My friend got a letter and he’s like, can you explain what it means. And I said it just means you’re a bit behind on your service charge so we’re going to figure out how much you are behind and how much you need to pay. I worked out how much it was and it’s been a valuable lesson in learning how to manage things.”
Getting holistic support
Whilst living with Centrepoint, Chloe has worked with a range of different teams including the healthy relationships and psychotherapists teams, to support her with her mental health. She’s also been closely working with the jobs, education and training team to help support her with finding a role and taking next steps to independence.
When thinking back on the support, she recognised that it wasn’t always been easy and when reaching out for support she tried to see the positive impact that it would have on her life, and her life alone. “It’s been a positive thing, but also sometimes quite hard to do. But if I do it, it’s not going to benefit anyone apart from myself. So, if I’m not going to do it, it’s only going to affect me”.
Currently, she’s been trying to get tested for Autism to open up more avenues for support and has been working closely with the psychotherapist teams to find an external provider to get her the assessment. “I’m trying to get tested for Autism because there’s been speculation of it in my family and it wouldn’t be a surprise at all”.
Thinking about what’s next
Chloe is using the summer to prepare for her apprenticeship with the local authority beginning in September and is being supported by the CP Works team to complete her English Functional Skills Level 2 before starting. She recently found out that she had achieved the highest score of the applicants for the position, something that she is feeling immensely proud of. “I got the highest out of everyone on the main applications. I was really happy about it – I was nearly crying!”
Chloe dreams of one day being a tattoo artist but knows that it might not be an easy career to move into so is excited to get settled into her new role and see what it has to offer and gain as much experience and skills as possible from the position. “I want to be a tattoo artist, but I know it’s not very conventional so I can always do a conventional job and hopefully they will take me on after my apprenticeship. I want to work my way around the company and do different roles and different things so I can get knowledge of everywhere, which is a very valuable thing”.
She has recently been accepted onto Centrepoint’s Rent Grant Deposit Scheme, which supports young people to get into the private rental sector. After starting to look at homes and what she might be able to get within her budget, she and her friend staying at the same home, have decided to look at homes together. They hope that applying for homes for the two of them, will mean that they can find something which works better financially. They are hoping to begin looking for homes together towards the end of the summer.
Advice for other young people
After finding it hard to settle into her room at the accommodation, she has advice for any young people who might have recently moved into a Centrepoint home who might be struggling. “Don’t be afraid of not knowing what to do when you get here because the more you hear the more, you’ll learn. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you don’t have enough money for food or you have issues, speak to the staff – they will actually help. Just don’t be afraid to ask”.
She also has some advice for parents and carers to help support their children if they’re struggling with their mental health or have said that they might need to get support. “Don’t be discouraged by parents thinking it makes them a bad parent. It doesn’t. It’s not anyone’s fault and there is mental health support you can get. You don’t need to be afraid to say about it, because everyone has got something to do with mental health. Don’t be afraid to reach out and you shouldn’t be ashamed of the way you are or the way your brain is”.
We’re so excited for Chloe to start her apprenticeship and can’t wait to hear all about her next steps.
