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Supportive Lodgings Case Study - A client's story

The Young Person - Isabel (22)
"When I was 14 my mum got remarried. I really didn't get on with my new stepdad so I decided to move out of home. I initially went into foster care but when I got to 16 I had to decide what to do next. When I sat down with Step by Step to discuss going into Supportive Lodgings I was really apprehensive. I thought I'd be bossed around and told what to do but it wasn't like that at all. One of the first things that they said to me was 'What do you want?'. I was quite lucky because I moved in with a family that I knew. My friend Richard had mentioned to his parents that I needed somewhere to live and they were more than happy to take me in.

When I first moved in with Fred and Leslie I felt a bit weird being in someone else's house. I kept asking if it was alright to make myself a cup of tea. I used to get invited to all the family events which felt strange at the beginning, but they never treated me differently from their own son, so once I got over this initial stage it was fine. Now I feel I might as well be related to them - after a while you don't mind going to 'granny's birthday party' because after a while she becomes your granny too. I stayed with them for six years and now have my own flat. I'm studying advertising and brand management at the University College of Creative Arts in Farnham. I eventually want to be an art and design teacher.

Fred and Leslie are the closest things I have to parents. I don't know what would have happened to me if it hadn't been for Supportive Lodgings, but it probably wouldn't have been very positive.

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