So this is my Story:
in late 2005 I found myself staying with my aunt on her sofa due to issues with work and housing, I heard about Emmaus Greenwich through a day centre so I gave them a call and the lady I spoke to told me I would need to work 40 hours a week in return for a room of my own, food and a small weekly allowance with no Bill’s to pay. It sounded ideal for me and I was invited to have a look around, it didn’t take me long to tell them I wanted to stay and I soon settled into things, sorting out the brick a brack and going out on the van to help with collections and deliveries. During my 2-3 months there I discovered Emmaus Cambridge was not far from where my Mum and Stepdad lived and managed to get a transfer to the community, after a month or so I managed to find a place to live in Somerset so went there hoping to find work but it was a bit out of the way and after I while I got bored and managed to find a flat share in London for a while but could not get enough work to pay my Bill’s, I then moved in with a friend for a while and ended up meeting a girl in the North of England so after 6 months I moved there, We were together for around 2 years and during the end of our relationship my Mum passed away which was really hard for me, I felt so alone and started drinking too much and not sleeping well due to having panic attacks during the night, I found myself walking to and sitting in the hospital for hours because I felt safe there, I didn’t take time off work because I was scared of losing my job which sounds silly looking back and after a few months I started to manage things a bit better, after nearly 4 years my job started to get harder due to changes and I just got depressed, I booked a weeks holiday, sold everything I had and left. I went to Israel for 3 weeks to volunteer on a moshav for a few weeks then came back to the uk to stay with my Stepdad for a while on his sofa, after a few months of being in and out of work we fell out and I left to stay in a night shelter for a while until I moved into Emmaus Hampshire, after a few months I met a girl and found a job then a place of my own, after around 11 months we split up and I got fed up of my job and the awkward shifts so went to stay with a friend and then lived with my real Dad for a while. Since then I have been moving around a bit and also been to Emmaus in Germany, the Netherlands and recently came back from spending 3 months in an Emmaus in Switzerland. I lost my Dad to Cancer a bit over 3 years ago which has been really hard for me and sometimes I still struggle with it but I try to take a day at a time, I’m currently in Emmaus Hull and looking forward to settling in Hull and finding a job and a place of my own. As much as I have enjoyed travelling it also became a bit of a habit when times got hard, it’s time for me to settle down now and start to enjoy life properly, I’m hoping to gain some more qualifications while I am here and make sure that when I do find a job it will be the right one for me and I can stay grounded. Emmaus has been really good for me as it gives you a chance to take a step back and decide what you want from life, there is lots of support here and it’s nice being around similar people who have gone through similar things and understand what your going through.
