Homelessness is never part of anyone’s life plan and can completely derail the career path someone is on. Our Accommodation for Work project helps people whose lives have been derailed by homelessness access independent accommodation, employment and education.
Arwa came to the project as an 18-year-old with the goal of becoming a dentist. However, domestic violence caused her to become homeless, and forced her to leave her dentistry apprenticeship. This is her story.
Arwa lived in on the outskirts of London with her family but began experiencing domestic violence due to cultural and religious issues, which caused the relationship with her family to break down.
She sadly had to flee her home and came to Brighton, where her partner lived. However, she could not stay with him at his family’s home due to their beliefs. This left her homeless.
Her situation caused her mental health to deteriorate, and she felt suicidal at times due to the stress of being isolated from her family. She missed her family, particularly her mum, but no longer had contact with them.
She was housed in emergency accommodation in Eastbourne but struggled in the chaotic environment and felt vulnerable living there as a young woman by herself.
This is when she was referred to BHT Sussex’s Accommodation for Work project. She moved into our shared accommodation and things started to improve. Shortly after moving in, Arwa secured a job in sales. With the support of her keyworker, she soon found a trainee post at a dental practice, meaning Arwa was back on the path to fulfil her goal of becoming a dentist.
Although Arwa was very proactive and had a lot of career-based skills, she had never lived independently before and required extra support from her keyworker to develop living skills. Staff supported her with all aspects of day to day living skills, including cooking, budgeting, cleaning and doing laundry.
After staying at the project for 3 months, Arwa found out she was pregnant. Staff supported her to engage with the local young person’s midwifery team, and liaised closely with the service to ensure she was getting the support she needed.
Arwa was determined to keep working throughout her pregnancy as she found work an important motivator in her life, enabling her to stay hopeful about her future. She worked up until 2 weeks before her baby was born.
Due to her pregnancy, staff helped Arwa find more appropriate accommodation by engaging with the local authority. We then helped her resettle into her new home.
Although Arwa had left the project, we continued to keep in contact with her and helped her access additional support. We also visited Arwa after she had given birth. Both Arwa and her newborn are doing well.
Arwa has recently started to have contact with her mum again and they are working on rebuilding their relationship.
Arwa is looking forward to her future and has expressed an interest in attending university. We set up a career’s advice appointment for Arwa with the National Career’s Service.
As such, Arwa has recently started an access course, which is the first step towards fulfilling her goal of becoming a dentist.
What Arwa has achieved since coming to the Accommodation for Work Project as a young woman experiencing homelessness is incredible. We are excited to see her flourish.
