*Stuart’s name has been changed to protect his identity.
Stuart, a staff member and previous client, tells us about the importance of how identity can being able to be their authentic selves.
Stuart currently works in our supportive housing team for Julian House. In his role he supports clients receiving longer term housing who are beginning recovery to move away from rough sleeping and towards independent living.
Seven years ago, Stuart had found himself homeless with dependency issues. And he was referred to stay at the emergency shelter on Manvers Street.
‘When I first entered the support of Julian House, I was at the lowest I had ever felt. All I knew about myself had been stripped away, and I thought of myself as just another homeless alcoholic and was too ashamed to tell people I knew where I was staying.’
During his time in the hostel, Stuart was assigned a support worker who helped him begin his route to independence and sobriety. He started to volunteer in the kitchen at weekends where he was trusted to prepare and serve meals for the other residents and people accessing the day centre. This kitchen work gave Stuart a routine which he started to feel like he was giving something back to the charity that had supported him.
‘By having the opportunity to be in the kitchen, I started to feel like who I really was again, started following my interests again such as was able to joining an art group at the Holbourne Museum and was encouraged by one of the hostel team to consider a career in support work.’
This was a focus to Stuart when on the route to recovery and after he began independent living, he took his line managers advice and completed a level 3 diploma in adult social care. What followed was a five year career in working with adults with learning disabilities.
After seeing a role advertised by Julian House, Stuart decided to start working to help people who had similar life experiences. At the interview he realised that his support worker who had encouraged him to follow this career path was now his current line manager.
Stuart’s personal experiences have instilled in him an empathetic approach when dealing with his clients, as he understands how deflating it can be in that situation but also how important it is to instil a sense of hope in clients rather than viewing the situation as an unescapable rock bottom.
This has adapted his approach to develop a person-centric support to the clients that he manages to work with the clients using his lived experiences to support those were in a similar situation.
‘Every single day I am able to see the value in what we do. It is great to see them rediscovering their identities as they go through recovery from homelessness, remembering what they used to enjoy, and developing new skills and hobbies, reforging relationships that may have become broken over time, and being able to be their authentic selves.’
