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Personal Experiences

My Experience of Homelessness - John's Story

24 February 2011

"After months of family conflict I finally left home and went to stay with some friends. After a while I felt that I was imposing because I thought that I was constantly in the way, so I left. I phoned my brother for advice and he told me to go to a hostel. The first hostel I went to had no beds, so I got a list of other places and went from there.

"I was accepted by the second hostel I tried and I stayed there for 4 months. My first night there was very scary - I was in a strange place, knew no one and didn't sleep a wink all night. The hostel was mainly full of alcoholics and I didn't feel at all safe. At night you would go to sleep with 5 other men in the dorm and wake up to find 10 more in the room.

"After a while I moved to the Simon Community project where I now live. At 25 I finally feel safe and contented. For the first week in the hostel I shared a room and then moved into a room of my own.

"Living in Simon Community has made me more independent as I now have to do everything on my own - things like cooking, cleaning and even budgeting my money. The best thing about being in the hostel is that all the other people are in the same boat (they're all homeless too) and they know what I am going through and can help when I feel down.

"Hopefully within the next year I will have a job and my own place where I can come and go as I please, without really having to answer to anyone. This is my hope for the future."