Moving in and Moving up

Antoni came to Nomad after living on the streets, it was clear to the team he was in a bad way. When he came in for his initial assessment, he many of his belongings had been stolen from other street people. Nomad have supported his journey for over 12 months and have successfully helped him find a home.

Antoni originally lived in Poland and worked as an English teacher there until he decided to come to the UK for a better life and better money. He soon found this was more difficult that he hoped and with no support network in place he soon began to suffer from loneliness and depression.

Nomad helped him overcome several issues with setting up a claim for universal credit, primarily regular internet access so that he could register for support. With no savings and having to wait for universal credit, moving into a flat seemed an overwhelming hurdle. However, Nomad’s Homeless Assistance team were able to pay the first two months of rent to get him settled.

Antoni has since been very successful in finding work on his own merit and has only recently needed advice from our Coaching scheme. He is a true grafter and thrives in the work place. Our support team at Nomad have realised it is when Antoni is unemployed that his health suffers.

To help tackle these issues in the long-term, Nomad teamed up with other support providers in Sheffield and put Antoni in touch with the alcohol services in the Fitzwilliam Centre and St Wilfred’s Day Centre. Here he has even found others to speak with in his own language, should he ever feel homesick. Working in partnership with other charities has allowed Nomad to provide a more comprehensive support package and ensure long term success for Antoni.

However, the most positive effect on his mood has been providing many crime novels for him to enjoy in his time off. He has read at least a dozen over the last two months. It’s the small things which can make a vital difference. His mental health has been improved further by starting some online courses during lockdown. Antoni has found he has a proficiency for IT and is looking forward to expanding his knowledge and broadening his horizons. He hopes this may even lead to new job prospects.

Antoni will continue to have difficulties in life and has his own set of unique challenges. The team at Nomad also see that he is very resilient, smart and ultimately a survivor who just needed a small helping hand to get him settled.

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