Joan has been living at one of our high-support houses for just over a year.

She describes how her feelings changed as she moved from homelessness to safe, secure and supported housing, where she says she has ‘bloomed’.

Joan shares some of the wisdom she gained along the way...

"This time last year I was a broken-down person. There was a numb feeling. I used to feel like a shell. Looking back, that’s from being on the streets, not in contact with the stronger strength.

They (the staff) made me strong, they gave me a bit of their strength to carry on.  It was a form of something unseen to me, but I was feeling it, like.

Now I can feel things and see things better than I could back then. There’s meaning to what I do, even washing my hands, I’d be saying, ‘isn’t this lovely’. Before, everything was negative. There was no feeling before. I thought there was no hope; but today, there is hope.”