Lance Jones
A place to call his own.
Lance's Story
MY JOURNEY FROM THE Y.M.C.A TO INDEPENDANT LIVING
My name is Lance Jones I came to the BYMCA in January 2008, the reason for this was simply because of a relationship breakdown which left me homeless and feeling very low.
I assumed that the YMCA was there for people with drug and alcohol problems and people who had lived on the streets for a long time. I was in for a shock and was so surprised what they did actually offer me to help get me sorted.
During the time spent with BYMCA I was given all the help and support I needed to assist me in moving on into independent living. I had done all this before of course, but not by myself and not when I had felt so low. The help I received covered a vast range of things which included how to budget my money properly to dealing with outside organisations. I also had the opportunity to do life skills if needed i.e. cooking, ironing and DIY.
I was encouraged to place bids for properties and was given alternative options to move on to help maximise getting my own property as quickly as possible whilst all the time making sure I was ready to move on.
One option I was given which I took was to move into short term Supported Housing, which in all honesty was what I needed, because I did not now need the intense support but did need some. This was done smoothly with thanks to the staff at the BYMCA. I was treated with total respect and as a person and I felt like I could approach any member of staff and talk to them about anything and thanks to them and their help I now have my own flat.
I am now a volunteer acting as a resident advocate which I have been doing for a year now; this has enabled me to learn new skills and led me to apply for a vacancy as a project worker in the past at the BYMCA in which I was successful in getting right through to the interview stage only narrowly missing out when the final scores were totted up. I felt really proud of myself for doing so well in the interview as I have never been to an interview before.
I have now applied to do an NVQ level 2 in Health and Social Care in September and hope to start that soon and I still hope to become a project worker at the BYMCA. I can't express enough how much better my life is and how much easier living independently is thanks to the help given to me from the staff at the BYMCA.
