At school I used to get in trouble because I'd bring my straighteners into class and start doing my hair. I didn't really care though, it was what I loved! It's so great to make people happy when they look at themselves. It takes about 2 hours to do my mum's hair, but she loves it afterwards. This kind of work gives me so much as well. There's nothing more relaxing than spending an hour or so putting eye lashes in. It's almost therapeutic, a calm space away from everything.
My benefits were stopped temporarily in 2017 when I missed an appointment at the Job Centre. I went into a black hole of arrears that I haven't been able to get out for the last 3 years. I live in social housing but it doesn’t matter what type of tenancy you have when you have arrears. Being in debt constantly puts your housing at risk. I just have to take it month by month. It’s so stressful, not knowing if I’ll have enough to make the repayments. That's a big fear, that I'll lose my housing and me and my children will end up homeless.
Sometimes it's hard to stay positive and keep moving forward, but I do it for my kids. I'm here to get my qualifications and get work so I can create a better life for me and for them. I want to create a stable situation and to have the freedom to do something I actually want to do! Being able to come back home in the evening to see the kids after a day at work would be perfect. We could be like a normal family for once. We would have more things to look forward to, first of all a new house to live in, which we're all so excited about. The one we're in right now is very cold, and we can't afford to keep on the heating on. My son's already started imagining what our new house will look like. He says we're going to have red, sparkly wallpaper.
This course is an opportunity for me to begin a new chapter, doing something I love and that I've been passionate about since school. I'm ready to get started!
Danielle is working with Beam because she is at risk of homelessness