Whitechapel X Standing Tall collab

Kev (51) had always been in employment but following a relationship breakdown, he began drinking to excess. This impacted his finances and mental well-being leading Kev to lose his job and his property. Kev found himself on the streets. The Whitechapel Centre's outreach team met Kev and he was placed temporarily in a First Steps from the Streets Hostel while his needs were assessed, then placed into more suitable accommodation.

Kev faced many challenges, including:

• Alcohol dependence: Kev’s living situation only heightened his problems and led to binge drinking.
• Mental Health: Due to his situation, Kev was suffering with anxiety, depression and low self-esteem.
• Isolation: Kev was isolated as he knew nobody within the homeless service, he also felt embarrassed about his situation which led to family estrangements and further isolation. 
• Information: Kev had no access to information or any activity programmes to make more meaningful use of his time.

Kev was introduced to our New Beginnings team. 
Kev was feeling low with nothing to look forward to. He wanted something to keep him busy to prevent him from drinking. Through New Beginnings he:

• joined the gardening project and completed a gardening course
• completed a course with Recycles Liverpool, where he learnt to take care of and fix his bike
• attended group fishing sessions
• regularly attended cookery classes 
• completed a digital inclusion course
• attended PT sessions, learning to use the gym equipment and about health and nutrition
• started volunteering at the cookery group, the Whitechapel Donations Centre and FareShare

Transition to Permanent Housing
Kev had a few bumps in the road out of homelessness, struggling when key anniversaries arise, leading to binge drinking. Kev had to vacate a harm reduction hostel, becoming homeless again, he had a tough time for several weeks but was then rehomed in another hostel accommodation. Later, Kev secured his own tenancy in a social home.

Referral to Standing Tall
After a year away from drinking, and some time living independently, learning to manage his home and money, we introduced Kev to Standing Tall, a service supporting people experiencing and at risk of homelessness by matching them into full-time work and a stable home with a host. Barriers such as the gap in his CV during his period of homelessness, and a lack of self-confidence meant Kev was finding it increasingly difficult to find work. New Beginnings staff and Standing Tall could see his potential to be a great employee, showing himself to have a willingness to learn. Standing Tall matched Kev with a full-time job at a local train station working in security and customer assistance where he is now thriving.

Impact
Kev is still free from alcohol. He is rebuilding his family connections regularly seeing his sister and grown-up children. His confidence has grown in so many ways. He attends work punctually and his managers have had nothing but positive comments about him since he started. Kev continues to learn and is doing an IT course to help him in his job. When his shift pattern allows, Kev still attends the New Beginnings gardening and cookery groups.