What makes me smile is sitting in the knowledge that there will always be ups and downs. What I've learnt is that every challenge, good or bad, is there to make me stronger. In a few years I hope to be a successful young man full of good life examples that I can share with people to inspire and help them.
I've experienced homelessness at various different points in my life. My childhood was a fairly tumultuous one and relationship breakdowns in the past have also left me with housing troubles. Life is full of hard situations and moments, but I think it's important to maintain a positive attitude. There's so much to be thankful for. The fact we're alive means that we're able to achieve things; all we need is patience, trust and the bravery to take action.
I'm in temporary accommodation now which is provided by Enfield council and that's been a game changer. I was fortunate enough to be staying with a friend before this, but making the move into my own space, with a permanent place to call my own on the horizon gives me a sense of calm. I've had periods of rough sleeping in the past so I'm grateful for the stability. I understand that everything I want isn't going to change over night, so I have to be patient, work hard, communicate and be open with people that are on my side and are helping me .
I want to begin work quickly to sustain myself, so I'll be applying for warehouse operative roles to begin with. My long term goal is to become a youth worker though! That's what I'm passionate about and where I want to build a career. When I was younger I experienced some things that I don't think anyone should have to experience including abuse and addiction. I'm motivated to use these experiences to help other people in the future because I know that if I was able to make it out of bad situations, then anyone can!
I'm looking forward to the initial training that I'll be doing with Beam's support because it'll give me the tools in the future to begin to support people. I know that it may take a while to get where I want to be long term, but I have a vision for my life and want to achieve it. I really want to learn more and help others.