At Matthew’s House we see people from all walks of life: people in work, out of work, with a home or without a home, with a community or without a community. What we have found is that there is an essential need in all of us to have a sense of purpose and community. Although we see a lot of homelessness and people struggling with rough sleeping, providing a roof isn’t always the answer. We can find that people can get lost in a cycle of loneliness, isolation and boredom once they have found that roof over their heads.
There is one individual we have been supporting and working with for several months. A couple of things we had tried just didn’t work out. At times you can feel frustrated and gutted for the person you are trying to support. But we continued to try and one of our Buddies got alongside this individual and continued to encourage them, even with the setbacks, just continued to encourage.
This individual, while they had found their way into accommodation and a place they could call home, continued having struggles with addiction, loneliness and mental health problems. Through relationships that we have built at Matthew’s House with businesses, organisations and supporters of Matthew’s House all around Swansea, we were able to find this person a job. A job in a warehouse, something to get their teeth stuck into, somewhere to belong and feel valued, somewhere to provide consistency in their life. As a result of this, after a bit of a rough start, they flourished. Recently in a catch-up conversation between our Matt’s House Buddy and the guest they were supporting, this individual expressed their thanks to the team and everyone at Matthew’s House, for standing by them and continuing to try and help them find friendship and fulfilment.
If you are part of a business or a place that could either offer private rental accommodation or a job to someone who needs a hand up to get back on their feet, please get in touch with us. We would love to have more of these opportunities for the people we are supporting. Similarly, if you need a Buddy to help pick you up when you fall, please do get in touch or come along to Matthew’s House.