HOME
ABOUT
HISTORY
NEWS
EMPLOYMENT
ADVICE
ACCOMMODATION
ACTIVITIES
CASE STUDIES
PROJECTS
SUPPORT US
CARING GIFTS
GALLERIES
CONTACT
Case Studies
My name is ...
My name is Jamie Owen... I was asked whether I would be interviewed for this report because I have lived in three of the YMCA’s projects and used three of its schemes during the year I’ve been here. I agreed because I’ve had a lot of help from the staff and am happy to say that in this report. I fell out with my mother and stepfather when I was 17 and was kicked out of the family home. I’d sort of known this would happen so I’d already found out that I could get some advice...
My name is ...
My name is Gareth Jones…. By the time you are reading this I will have been to Milan to play football with the Wales Street Soccer team. This isn’t exactly what was on my mind when I came to live here but it’s a good result! My life was quite ordinary – I lived happily at home until I was 18 when I moved out to live with my girlfriend. We had a baby but then split up. For complicated reasons, my girlfriend couldn’t keep our son so I applied for custody...
My name is ...
My name is Paul. I was placed at The Ambassador hostel by the council after being thrown out of the place I had called home for 2 years. Being homeless was something I knew nothing about – I thought homelessness was probably self inflicted and just for people who had drugs problems – not for someone like me. Since being here I have completely changed my view – not just about homelessness, but also about myself and what I can do. This is my story...
My name is Donna Cowling ...
I am 35 years of age and have lived at the YMCA hostel in The Walk for nearly a year. Before I came to the hostel I had had my own tenancy, but had suffered a very scary burglary which left me too frightened to go back there. When I left I spent 2 nights literally on the street. I had never slept (if that’s the right word) on the street before and even though I’ve been no angel myself in the past, I was terrified of being out and on my own.
My name is John Hatsumi ...
... and I am 40 years old. I have been living in YMC8 for a few years now and it’s a really good place to be. Let me tell you a bit about myself so you will see for yourself the difference it has made to my life.
I have mental and physical health problems. I was diagnosed with a mental illness in 1981 and after having meningitis, I had to have a brain operation to put a shunt in my head. Before coming to the ...
My name is Nejim Alamin ...
I was an electrician in Sudan before I had to flee to seek asylum in the UK. I would have been killed if I had stayed so I had no choice. When I arrived in the UK I was sent to Portsmouth and stayed in accommodation for asylum seekers until I was given leave to remain. I was given one week to find somewhere so I stayed with people I knew until a hostel place came up. I stayed in the Portsmouth hostel for about a year and it was a very difficult time.
My name is Nasreen Karvouniaris ...
A year ago I’d have laughed at you if you’d said what I’d be like today ‘cos I didn’t think I’d get anywhere near where I am now. I’m 32 and up until February this year I’d always lived at home. There were family problems at home that made life difficult, but I was also using drugs – and had been for 10 years. What a waste! I was in a mess and got in trouble – I was a bad person. I’d try to come off now and again but it never worked, maybe ...
My name is Mathew Lee and my dog is Zarley ...
I came to the YMCA in October 2007. I had been homeless for quite a while after having to give up a council flat because of harassment, abuse and actual assault on both me and my dog by neighbours and their friends. I don’t know why they did it but it may have been because I was different, being the only one working in the block. My dog was only a pup then and they had even put ...
My name is ...
I am a refugee from the Sudan and don’t want my name or photograph printed owing to possible reprisals. I came to the UK in October 2006 on my own – I was 21 years old. I stayed in Barnsley, then London and came to Cardiff in July 07 because I’d been told about the Sudanese community here. The Refugee Council found me a place in a shared house, but when I found a job I moved on to a privately rented house that I ...