Isabelle, 24, was due to give birth when she found herself at risk of homelessness. Through Centrepoint's Rent Deposit Guarantee Scheme, she was able to find a home for her and her new born and is now setting up her own beauty business.
Finding out about Centrepoint
A few weeks before Isabelle was due to give birth, she was told she would have to unexpectedly move out of her flat, leaving her in a very challenging situation as she didn't know where she could go. Looking online, she saw an advert for Centrepoint on Facebook which mentioned the Rent Deposit Guarantee Scheme, a new scheme set up by Centrepoint to help support young people into the private rental market.
She hadn’t heard about Centrepoint or knew about the kind of support that they could offer, but after reading the comments she saw that they helped young people who were at risk of homelessness in a range of different ways and decided to reach out. “I was in a one-bedroom flat, and I was due to give birth and I needed to be out of the flat. So, the timing was just right”. After seeing the advert, Isabelle reached out to Centrepoint and was referred to a Development Worker for the scheme who completed her assessment and made sure that she had access to this support.
Finding her home
Before long, Isabelle had found a house to move into that would be suitable for her and her young family to live and grow in. As she was due to give birth and had to leave her home quickly, having a helping hand with the move could take some of the pressure off. She remembers how helpful it was to have a key worker with her to support and check out the house before she moved in.
The home she was about to move into had some issues with damp, and her key worker was able to help make sure that contractors and the landlord finished the work before she moved in. She was grateful to have someone on her side who could advocate and get the household ready for her and her new born.
“When I walked into the flat and we realised that we’re going to have mould and we going to have damp, we wanted to fix it but didn’t actually realise that we’d have to figure out how we can do that with a young child in the house as well, which would take our priority. So, it was really nice to have the support there as well”.
"It was helpful having someone come in who knew what to look for and how to deal with it. She inspected the house and helped us to sort out the damp and mould in the house and point us in the right direction with that. So, it’s quite helpful because not everybody gets that help with what they need to check and that really helped us out”.
Finding her feet as a family
Isabelle’s been in her new house for four months now and is settling in with her new baby. She's enjoying being in a bigger place and having the stability of a new home. “It’s a lot better. It’s nice just to have a garden and somewhere to sit in the summer and the mornings rather than just look out the window. We’re quite local to schools and nurseries and where we are there’s loads of families and young people”.
Thinking back to finding out she was eligible for the grant, Isabelle reflects on how she felt at the time. Alongside the grant, Isabelle also got support with learning to budget and be more financially independent, including getting some help with furnishing her new home to help her feel settled.
“At first I was worried. I had just given birth and I wasn’t in a position to do all of this. And then when I was told I could get help with budgeting and I could get help with whatever I needed, there are funds there and it took a massive stress off. Because all I was thinking was, I’m going to have nothing ready and I’m going to struggle and she said whatever you need don’t worry we’ll sort it”.
Looking to the future
Isabelle is now looking to start up her make up and beauty business working from home, so she can look after her baby and build up her portfolio in order to showcase her looks. “It’s something I’ve always been interested in and when I had to give up the flat, I’ve had to start again but it’s nice to start again and build it back up”.
Being able to have a space to work from home and build up her business was important for Isabelle so that her and her baby have time to bond, “I’m building my portfolio but I’m also building memories for my little one, so she’s got stuff to look back on as well”.
We are so proud of Isabelle and what she's been able to achieve and we can't wait to see what she does with her make up business in the future!
