Mariah's story: "I got home and the locks had been changed"

She was 21 years old and homeless due to a family relationship breakdown.

“I had nowhere to go and didn’t know who to turn to. Eventually I found a friend who let me stay, but I had to share a single bedroom with her. I’d already been struggling with my mental health and it got worse.”

Mariah’s mental health problems stemmed from the recent death of her father. Becoming homeless compounded things and it soon became too difficult for her to stay with her friend.

Things got so bad that she ended up at a mental health facility for several months. When she came out, still homeless, nobody would take her in.

The local council was able to find her Mariah temporary accommodation in another part of the county. She reluctantly accepted – not doing so would mean having to sleep on the streets – but found the experience incredibly difficult.

“I didn’t want to go outside. I started self-harming… I’m not proud of that now.”

We were able to offer Mariah somewhere a place in one of our properties, close to her old home.

On moving in day, she was anxious. It was coming up to her dad’s birthday – the first one without him.

“I knew I’d go downhill and even messaged my support worker Rebecca to say I was about to take a bunch of tablets… but I got rid of them instead. Then she told me ‘Well done’ and it lit my day up. I felt like someone cared about me.

“She really helped me out – she is the most caring, positive person. Last year, I felt numb and didn’t know who I was. But Rebecca helped me to care about myself and about other people.”

After three months in one of our high-support hostels, Mariah has moved to a lower-support Porchlight house share. She no longer self-harms and is optimistic about the future.

“There’s been a massive change in me. Now, I want my own place, my own job and my own little family.”