A 17-year-old from the West Midlands has described the “tough” reality of being made homeless at the age of 16, while in the middle of her GCSE examinations. The teenager, who wished to remain anonymous and is referred to as Z, said she was taken in by the charity St Basils after having no stable place to stay.
Z told BirminghamLive that she had to adopt a “very mature head on my shoulders” from a young age, having always looked after her family while never being looked after herself. She explained that she went through a lot in her household, which ultimately led to her becoming homeless, and she was “hanging out at people's houses” because she had nowhere stable to go.
Support from St Basils
Z said she went “straight” to St Basils for support. St Basils is a charity and housing association that provides accommodation and support services to young people aged between 16 and 25 who are homeless, vulnerable, or at risk. The charity gave her somewhere to stay and helped her avoid “being on the streets or anything like that.”
“They gave me somewhere to stay,” she said. The charity also taught her vital skills such as how to be independent and how to manage money. Z said St Basils made sure she would “never go without something I needed” and helped her learn “all my independency skills.”
Rebuilding trust
Z admitted that she found it “very hard” to trust people at first, having been “through so much” previously. She said she “didn't believe” she would be supported, but St Basils “brought back the trust that I had lost.”
“I could not trust anybody and now I can choose whether I can trust someone or not,” she said. Reflecting on her experience, Z said: “I felt so lonely. There were people all around me, but I still felt so alone. But now I know I've got people around me and it's a big change I went through.”
Life without St Basils
The teenager praised St Basils for the support she received and shared what life could have been like if the Birmingham-based service was not available. “If I didn't have St Basils, I probably wouldn't know as much as I know now,” she said.
“I would have probably been spending nights at different friends' houses, becoming friends with the wrong people. I'd never gain that sense of trust again. I'd always be looking behind my shoulder. Things would have been very different if St Basils hadn't been part of my journey. If the Youth Advisory Board wasn't part of my journey, I probably wouldn't be who I am today.”
Z concluded: “I would probably be in a very terrible place if I didn't have St Basils.”
Looking ahead
Now, as she approaches her 18th birthday, Z says she is much more confident than she was when she was made homeless. She hopes to return to college in September to study animal care.
“I look back at the 16-year-old girl that came into homelessness, and we're two completely different people,” she said.
