Background

Rebecca (name changed) was referred to Nightingale House as a result of being evicted from another hostel in Cardiff. Prior to this Rebecca spent the past few years staying in hostels and being street homeless. During this time Rebecca also spent some time in prison as well as being admitted into Whitchurch hospital. She led a chaotic and unstable life since she was a teenager. Rebecca presented to Nightingale House when she was 4 months pregnant. She had a history of abusive relationships, criminal activity, a history of substance misuse and was currently on the methadone programme.

Rebecca was also involved with a number of organisations including CAU and social services for the unborn child.

Whilst at Nightingale House Rebecca gave birth to a healthy baby boy.

Support provided

Rebecca was always open and honest during the support sessions she received at Nightingale House. She engaged well with myself and we developed a very positive working relationship. She took a very active role in her support sessions which she attended on a weekly basis. She made her goals pretty clear and was very driven and motivated to achieve these.

Her goals included:

  • To have her own permanent accommodation
  • Be prepared for her next tenancy
  • To work with all required agencies in order to have her son reside with her

    and attend all meetings. This included the health visitor, social services, CAU,

    intensive family support team (IFST) and myself.

  • To continue with the methadone programme and have regular urine tests.

Outcomes

Rebecca’s determination and positive attitude was a major factor in helping her work towards the above goals.
She was offered permanent Cardiff council accommodation and moved in June 2014. The progress she has made whilst residing at Nightingale House and moving into her permanent property is huge.

Her priority and responsibilities are now focused on providing the best possible care for her son and successfully maintaining her tenancy.
She is also working towards having her son removed from the CPR in November. She has engaged well with resettlement and as my support ends she has started to work with tenancy support.

The journey she has made is remarkable in that she started with nothing and now feels has everything and the key factor in this was the drive she had within herself and the level of engagement she had with support.

Long term, she will be saving on a number of services as she has rehabilitated
from her previous drugs use, she has learnt from her mistakes and so will not get involved with the wrong side of the law, Logan being taken off the register will relieve the pressures social services are under and successfully maintaining her tenancy will also relieve the current homelessness situation.

The following are quotes from Rebecca as a result of the support received from Nightingale House:

“if it wasn’t for this place I wouldn’t have him” “it’s worth hanging on although you get days” “support is wicked”
“always someone to talk to any time or day”