EllaÕs Keys to the Futuresupport worker is organising financial help to pay for her school uniforms, and is arranging for her to join a young carersÕ scheme.
Ella and Jacob’s story
Ella, 8, and Jacob, 4, were living at their grandmother’s house. Their mother, Heather, had fled there with them after suffering domestic violence and harassment at home.
Heather has bi-polar disorder, and staying at her mother’s wasn’t working out well. Shelter helped the family apply for emergency re-housing, and they were immediately offered a place in a family hostel while their homelessness application was processed. Shelter put Heather in touch with Women’s Aid and Relate, and Ella and Jacob were given support through Keys to Future.
Both children now have a Keys to the Future support worker who gives them emotional support, and takes them on outings with other children experiencing similar housing problems. Their support worker is organising financial help to pay for their school uniforms, and is arranging for Ella to join a young carers’ scheme.
Compared to their peers, homeless children have six times as many speech and stammering problems.
Names have been changed to protect anonymity. To protect the identity of our clients, models have been used in photographs.