“I was kicked out from my home. I was just sofa surfing and I didn’t have anywhere to go so I needed somewhere more long term… I couldn’t stay at my friends for long or try and crash at my sister’s while she has kids so I had to seek other alternatives.”
Casey reached out to New Horizon Youth Centre and was moved into the Youth Hub, an emergency accommodation service in London designed and run specifically for young Londoners either currently or at risk of sleeping rough.
The 26-bed service provides more than a safe place to sleep. In partnership, New Horizon and Depaul UK staff provide 24hr onsite support and a dedicated key worker offering personalised help to ensure young people find a home to suit their needs.
“I got so much support at the Youth Hub especially from my key worker. We had sessions every week, but most times we would just talk normally. She was sort of like a big sister to me, like I could talk to her about anything.
“I never thought could get close and open up to essentially a stranger. Till this day I really thank her, like she was amazing.”
On top of housing advice, the Youth Hub provides support regarding mental or physical health, substance misuse, employment, education and training or immigration advice.
“When I stayed there, for example, we did cooking together. That was really fun with other residents and staff members. And also, we had people come in and do talks with us. We had one music place come to us and there were some people that were homeless that used to come to the New Horizon and they’d done some music with that company.”
While staying at the Youth Hub, Casey attended college studying Creative Media and when asked what they achieved with New Horizon’s support they said:
“The biggest and the best thing that I’ve done in New Horizon is the House of Lords speech. I made a speech talking about youth homelessness and my experience. I would have never been at that point in the House of Lords saying any of that if it wasn’t for New Horizon taking me in and letting me stay at the Youth Hub and building me back to society and back to normality.”
And, in their own words, for Casey the biggest difference New Horizon has made is:
“The biggest difference that New Horizon has made to me is bringing me a safe home, safe place to go back to. Even the basics such as having a toilet and a bathroom, that has made a massive difference to going back to reality, something normal and feeling like everything’s going to be okay again. And creating a support system that I can always go back to regardless where I am. “
Casey now has a full-time job in hospitality and has since moved on to longer-term housing. They aspire to work in graphic design, potentially at a branding agency. They also want to continue campaigning for a better future for young people affected by homelessness.
To help New Horizon make a big difference to the lives of young people like Casey, please support us by making a one off or regular donation: Support our work – New Horizon Youth Centre
* Story told from young person’s own words with full consent. The header image does not depict the young person in the article.
