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Homelessness in Cornwall

Maria Turner

Starting Out will help people like Maria Turner who was made homeless at the age of 18 following a domestic dispute.  Maria spent some time sleeping rough and at friends’ houses before being housed in unfurnished accommodation.  Talking about her situation Maria said:

“Its terrifying, you never plan for these situations and just assume you will always live with your mum until you are ready to leave home.”

When questioned about moving into unfurnished accommodation Maria commented:

“Of course you feel relieved and grateful just to have a roof over your head, but not being able to cook and sleeping on the floor in a completely empty room soon becomes depressing and makes friends’ sofas look inviting again.

Maria went on to say:

“Not having furniture can affect your whole life.  Your health deteriorates without decent food or sleep, this makes it hard to get a job or stick to training.  Then if you start staying with friends too much you could lose the tenancy”

“Just buying basic furniture is difficult on benefits, and it is difficult to get off benefits without a proper home.  I received help from a community grant – but it took months to come through.  Starting Out could have helped me straight away – with everything I needed.”

When questioned on how she feels about the volunteering side of the project Maria stated:

“I would be happy to volunteer my time to help an organisation that has helped me and recognise all the brilliant opportunities that volunteering at the reuse centres could open up for me.  I already do some voluntary work but am thinking of getting involved at RE:SOURCE and  looking in to their training opportunities.” 

Peter Davison 

Following a difficult domestic situation Peter was made homeless along with his two children.  Eventually they were housed in an unfurnished bungalow and were put in touch with the SOFA project who provided them with essential furniture items. 

Peter said:

"I found myself alone with two children and nothing else.  It was a very daunting situation to be in, nothing for the children to sleep on, nothing to cook with or eat from."

"Fortunately the Local Authority were able to put me in touch with SOFA who provided pretty much everything we needed including furniture, cutlery, toasters, everything."

Peter visited the RE:SOURCE centre to purchase a fridge freezer for his family’s new accommodation and seized the opportunity to volunteer at the centre in order to give something back for the help that he had recently received. 

Peter is now employed at RE:SOURCE as the Sales and Customer Services Team Leader where he is able to use his previous experience in retail and bank management.  He has also has a new partner who he met at RE:SOURCE and they are expecting a baby.

Peter said:

"The Cornish reuse centres has given me and my family an immeasurable amount of support.  It has changed my life and I have never looked back."

"I really believe in the Starting Out project and we see the need for it at RE:SOURCE all the time.  There are so many families, couples or individuals, who for one reason or another have found themselves in the same situation that I did, and all they need is a little bit of help to get them back on track."

 

Sally Rogers

Sally Rogers relocated to Cornwall after fleeing a violent domestic situation.  She benefitted from receiving furniture from the GOFA project in Penzance and volunteered for them in return.  Joanne met her partner Dan who was also volunteering at the centre after benefitting from furniture when he was homeless himself.  Sally and Dan are now expecting a baby together.