Liverpool YMCA

Gill came to the hostel and during her interview for accommodation Gill was very upset and disclosed a number of issues. Gill had been of "no fixed abode" for a number of years, staying at a variety of friend's houses. She had previous convictions for prostitution and freely admitted to having a crack addiction as well as recently trying to commit suicide.

During the first weeks of Gill's stay she failed to attend keywork sessions and was rarely seen in the hostel other than when she went out at night. The only way to engage with Gill was to knock on her door and try to engage her in conversation although the signs of her crack addiction were still very much in evidence. Eventially Gill began to trust her support worker and began to attend keywork sessions although these were fitted around Gill, late in the day at times convenient to her.

During Gill's initial needs assessment Gill admitted to using four or five rocks of crack/cocaine a week but stressed that she did not want to change her lifestyle. She also disclosed a number of medical problems that required immediate attention. We were able to arrange appointments to have these problems treated and liased with Armistead who had worked with Gill previousley, to accommpany her to these appointments. Gill's risk assessment also had to be amended to "high risk" for self-harm following an incident, which the Crisis Team believed was due to Gill's poor coping skills.

During a period of months Gill attended all her medical appointments as well as some counselling appointments but was still living a very chaotic lifestyle. This was reflected in her behaviour within the hostel and we were left no choice but to issue a number of warnings for her behaviour. Staff realised that Gill needed a stable base and began to try empowering Gill to make positive changes in her life whilst attempting to moderate her behaviour so that it would not affect the other members. Eventually Gill was proud of "being good" and kept commenting that she had "kept out of the naughty book", her name for the staff coommunication book. Although Gill's behaviour was still chaotic outside the hostel, her behaviour within the hostel had improved dramatically. Gill was rewarded for this by moving up to a 1 bed self contained flat within the hostel.

Gill eventually began to make positive choices, she started to reduce her drug usage to the point were she could begin to repair relatioships with her family, Gill has five children, three of which were living with her mother. She attended appointments, originally with the Lighthouse but stopped as she did not feel she had a drug problem anymore. Her fathers death led Gill to replacing drugs with alcohol as she came to terms with this. Over a period in which she again required counselling, her drinking reduced and Gill became confident enough to begin looking for her own independant accommodation.

After refusing two offers Gill accepted a one-bedroom house with CDS, she was awarded a £100 grant and a £570 Crisis Loan to help her to buy furnature. She spent all of this on furnature, carpets and decorating the house. Gill originally refused any outreach support with CDS she was still prone to drink/drug binges so we agreed prior to her moving out that we would arrange outreach support via the Armistead. At this present time she is still receiving this support from Armistead who are in regular contact with her support worker. Gill still has obsticles to overcome but her stay at the YMCA has enabled her to develope and become independant in her own right.