Seeing people happy also makes me happy. In a few years' time, hopefully I'll be working and all of this will have changed my life! I want to be climbing up the career ladder and save up to buy a new car.
Since childhood I'd moved around quite a bit and I've been homeless on and off my whole life up until a few years ago. I would sofa surf with different people until I couldn't stay with them any more. I think some of the scariest times in my experience were when I would have to rough sleep on buses. You get drunk people trying to fight you or urinate on you which was so scary and unsustainable. Instability like that makes it incredibly difficult to strategise on a clear plan and a way forward.
Fortunately my cousin let me live with her. I know it can't last forever but I'm so grateful that I have that for now. I have the space and clarity of mind to make those plans which I couldn't before. On top of that, my brother, sister and cousin have truly stepped up to help me and I'm so grateful for them. They've been real rocks in helping me to plan for a better future.
Now, I'm really looking forward to having the opportunity to save and maybe have my own place one day. I can't wait to do my forklift driver training so I can up-skill myself and sustain work that I enjoy. I've done it in the past so I know how fun it can be working in such a varied and dynamic environment. You get to do something different everyday and also get the chance to work with colleagues as well as taking on tasks for yourself. If you enjoy your work it's not really work. That's partly why getting this new license is such an exciting prospect for me.
This opportunity and job support means that I can start having some structure and look forward to 'normal' things like planning family holidays and building on my dreams. The structure, new skills and qualifications are something that I used to only dream about, but now getting back into work is on the horizon and I'm so grateful for that.