CD had been homeless for seven years when he first came to Barnabus. He’d lost faith in services and people, and was living in a bin shed. After the relationship with his family broke down completely, he left his home in Bristol, where he was homeless for four years. After being chased out of town by members of his family and former friends, CD found himself in Manchester, where he stayed in doorways and bin sheds.

 

He told us he’d stopped asking for help, felt lost and that people had given up on him, so he found that he’d given up on himself. We referred him to Sanctuary Trust Rochdale, where he soon settled in. Within three weeks of finding his feet, he’d already started volunteering.

 

He made contact with his family and started building bridges, telling us that his family could see he was trying to turn his life around and that they’d asked him to come home and start again. He kept us informed of all these positive changes and within a few weeks, he moved back home to Bristol. He told us that all his family was supporting him and things were going really well. A couple of weeks later, he sent us a photo of himself with his workmate on the first day of his new job.