Kyle became homeless back in 2011 when he was just 16. Family difficulties meant he wasn’t able to stay at home, so he began his journey with Centrepoint. 14 years on he is still proudly involved with Centrepoint and hopes to help a new generation of young people experiencing homelessness.
Leaving Home
Kyle first began his journey in 2011, when he approached the council to declare himself homeless. He was placed in a Centrepoint hostel, but unfortunately the service wasn’t the best fit for him.
“I was very young, struggling with my mental health and quite easily led and I ended up mixed up with the wrong people.”
Shortly after, Kyle was detained under the mental health act and was diagnosed with a personality disorder which was difficult for him to process.
“At the time, I felt everyone was out to get me and I didn’t understand why I was being kept in the hospital. I had no idea what would happen once I’d left.”
Kyle went to live back with his parents, but after a while, the situation became difficult again.
“At first it was okay, but there were problems and within a year I was back at Centrepoint. My parents didn’t really understand the consequences of my diagnosis and how it affects me.”
The right support
Kyle was referred back to Centrepoint. After two weeks they relocated to a new building which had much better facilities. This change worked wonderfully for Kyle.
“The second time at Centrepoint was great, it was the most stable environment I had been in. We discussed what went wrong last time and we came up with a new agreement. I felt safe and supported.”
Kyle remembers the staff fondly and how much they helped him to move forwards.
“The staff were fantastic, they really supported me with my mental health. We became more of a family than a hostel.”
Part of Kyle’s diagnosis meant he can be susceptible to influence from others. “If staff noticed that I was being easily led they could pull me to one side”.
Throughout this time, Kyle had holistic support from Centrepoint, but there were still many hurdles in getting the mental health support he needed.
“Getting registered with a GP was really difficult as the community didn’t want us. We had two GP practices and they wouldn’t take us as we didn’t have a permanent residence”.
“The staff were advocating for us a lot with the local services. I finally got registered but I still wasn’t able to fully access mental health support.”
However, having supportive staff made all the difference and Kyle was able to find some stability.
Struggling with mental health and independence
Eventually Kyle applied for a private tenancy through the Centrepoint rent deposit scheme. However, the skills that Kyle needed to be independent were still not fully developed.
“Moving out led to me getting in with the wrong people and I started abusing drugs and ended up getting sectioned”
Kyle was sectioned for seven months.
“It was quite a traumatic experience for me”, he remembers “Nobody wanted to take responsibility for my care.”
Kyle was transferred to a facility that wasn’t suitable, and from there he was released to his parents. He was back in hospital again after 24 hours after making another attempt on his life.
This time, Kyle was in an NHS hospital who got the community practitioner involved to help support him.
“The practitioner had spent a lot of time with me and parents. It really helped my mum understand that I wasn’t just me being difficult, I had a condition.”
This had an overwhelmingly positive effect on Kyle’s relationship with his parents.
“It was really useful for both me and my mum. It enabled me to stay at my parents for longer and I left on good terms”.
Stability and clarity
Now 30, Kyle works for a bank and is in stable tenancy. Despite a setback in 2022, he flourishing and has learnt to embrace his differences.
“After everything that happened I am now in a much better place. There was a mental health episode in 2022 and I was diagnosed with ADHD and ASD. During this episode I was told that my diagnosis of personality disorder was incorrect; looking back it makes sense. It has answered a lot of questions for me.”
Being correctly diagnosed meant that Kyle was able to get the right type of support. This meant that he has been able to maintain stability better than before.
“In the last year I’ve definitely learnt to embrace who and what I am. The world isn’t designed for me but it doesn’t mean I can’t live a life that’s fulfilling.”
Volunteering
Kyle is keen to continue his involvement with Centrepoint.
“I’ve got a real passion for what Centrepoint does for young people. They make a real effort to understand young people’s problems and give them a voice. I thought it would be useful to use my experience to help other young people and provide them support.”
“I started volunteering whilst I was living with my parents. My friend worked with Centrepoint, she was involved with a programme for adult social care. And then I went to one of the sessions and decided that’s what I would like to do.”
Kyle has a real passion for his volunteer work and is always looking for new ways to contribute to support young people.
“I want to end the whole stigma around homelessness. Now I am older, it’s more about the impact it has on mental health. You can put someone into accommodation but that doesn’t deal with the trauma they’ve experienced.”
Kyle was part of Centrepoint’s Helpline launch, a service which he believes is invaluable to young people.
“The Helpline that Centrepoint have is vital. When I first became homeless there was no signposting to the services you needed but with the Helpline, young people have that support.”
Kyle has had a long journey to find wellbeing and stability. Despite setbacks and difficulties, he has persevered and is taking life in his stride. We admire his strength.
