Stories

Recluse to Employment

26 year old Ms E was in regular contact with our emergency accommodation team who suggested that she may like to enrol in our Adult Community Education courses, as Ms E had become a recluse and very rarely left her home. She attended our cooking class on a regular basis and it was here that she offered to help out at the Centre. It was not long before she was undertaking regular administration duties on the front reception as an ac.care volunteer. Ms E then attended our 6 week Employment Pathways course which concentrated on employability skills and personal presentation.

Ms E is no longer a volunteer with ac.care, as she has been offered independent employment.

 

Help to adjust

Ms N had had a successful career as a nurse, but now suffers from health issues that prevented her from continuing in her profession. She needed some help adjusting to a lower income and a different lifestyle. Apart from financial counselling and participating in the Money Minded course, Ms N also enjoyed computing and art classes. This is her story in her own words:

“I was in a state of contemplating suicide as I thought there was no way out of this situation that I found myself in. No-one seemed to understand that I was grieving for my loss of income, my profession, and my self esteem. I came to ac.care for some financial counselling and found there a very caring and professional team. They helped me see that this was not my fault, helped me negotiate with my creditors, helped me with financial literacy with the Money Minded Course and for the first time I understood my own finances, and I was made very welcome there. I know that I can come back for a chat and a cup of coffee at any time. They are a great bunch of lovely people.”