I'm a very happy person that likes to spend time with my wife and children. I have two special daughters that are very intelligent and mean the world to me. Currently, I'm a minicab driver. I enjoy my work because every day I see new faces. I talk to people and gain so much knowledge and stories from the people I meet.
However, during the pandemic, it was so hard to earn any money as a minicab driver. As my income rapidly reduced, I struggled to pay for childcare, bills and rent. I felt shame as I couldn't fulfil the needs of my family. I had to choose either between spending money on my family or paying the rent. I chose the former, and the consequence was my landlord filed for an eviction notice and won in court.
It's only a matter of time before I'm forced to leave my accommodation and to make matters worse, I severely injured my nose and teeth in an incident at home, which prevented me from mini-cab driving over the past couple of months.
I hope to find another housing accommodation soon so I can bring stability back to my family's life and continue working as a minicab driver. Over time I would love to save enough to buy my own properties and rent them out. Given my experience, I know I can be a great landlord!
Each person we support into housing does in-depth budgeting with their caseworker to make sure they can sustain their new tenancy using benefits alone if necessary.