Read Monika’s story of her time as a Life House client and how she was supported to have and raise her children.
"The overcrowding in my home and then being pregnant, started to breakdown the relationship with my mum and it became a hostile environment."
I was living at home with my mum and my siblings, I fell pregnant and didn’t know what to do or where to go, I was diagnosed with Tourette’s and my home life was over crowded and unsettling, this made my anxiety increase as I knew that living at home with my mum and my siblings in a overcrowded house, wouldn’t be best time for having a baby.
I reached out for support from my local council that referred me to Life charity, I spoke to one of Life’s advisors and after some thinking, I decided to keep my baby and started the referral process to be able to leave my mums overcrowded home. The overcrowding in my home and then being pregnant, started to breakdown the relationship with my mum and it became a hostile environment.
I had my baby and at that time was offered a room at Life House and I made a decision to move out of the area of where I grew up, I was a new mum, unsure of my surroundings in a new area and a unfamiliar home, I then became settled at the Life House, I really got on well with the staff and other mums in the house, we all came to each other for advice and I enjoyed having the support there at the house.
Life Support Workers are instrumental to our housing service. We don’t just offer a safe home, we provide one to one support for women according to their needs.
Monika engaged in our life skills and outcome session, Monika has said this boosted her skills and knowledge and confidence as a person and as a mother, Monika has said that Life House also provided her with long lasting friendships and her children got to engage with other children. Monika said she didn’t have many friends growing up and felt like she had made friends within the Life House.
Monika went on to have a second child at Life House and felt she was doing very well at being a mum of two and felt confident as time went on in her daily living. She felt supported, Monika felt safe and relaxed at the Life House and grateful for getting help with donations, such as food, clothing, hygiene items, etc. This also helped with her Tourette’s as she wasn’t so stressed out and overcrowded.
After two years of being at Life House, Monika was offered a permanent home via the council. Monika said she felt quite upset to leave the Life House and her children to not see their little friends everyday and things will be much quieter, but Monika expressed she feels a lot more confident and ready to live independently with the help from Life charity.
“I will always be grateful of all the donations and support and even when I moved out, the help I got, the memories and life skills sessions, I will actually miss it all.”
To protect our client’s privacy, we have used a stock image and different name.
