I was 20 when my family was evicted from our home. I was too old to go with them into supported housing and suddenly found myself alone. After briefly living with my uncle I ended up spending nine months in a youth hostel. When I was told I was homeless it was a massive reality check.
I started going to Crisis soon after moving into the hostel and immediately joined the creative writing class. It’s helped me. There’s a real sense of camaraderie. People in the class were strangers at one point, but now we’re completely inseparable.
Crisis has helped me to come out of my shell and making art has been a big part of that. It’s been a real outlet. As well as the creative writing classes I got involved with Art in Crisis recently, where I wrote a story as part of an alternative walking tour of Liverpool.
The arts coordinator Annie asked if I wanted to do a performance on the tour so I said I’d give it a go. I ended up leading the whole thing! It was such a great experience and the reaction from the public was fantastic.
When I first moved into the youth hostel I may as well not have been there. I may as well have been invisible. I’m now living independently and working full time in the hostel!
Thanks to the support I’ve received from Crisis, the future’s looking bright.