Each and every one of our residents are completely unique and so are their stories. Stories of how they became homeless, sometimes through no real fault of their own and many stories uncover how some of our service uses became involved or dependent on drink and or drugs.

Please see just a selection below.

I became homeless at the age of fifteen due to my drug taking habits. My mum asked me to leave because of my constant drug usage, I started living with different friends for about two years (sofa surfing). Then I became so heavily involved in drugs that I was no long welcomed to stay at their house any more either.

At the age of seventeen I started living on the streets and taking drugs every day.
I also was staying in a tent and on some canal boats sited between Kings Langley and Rickmansworth. I was now stealing to feed my habit, and because of this I ended up being sent to prison several times (almost too many times to remember). I lived like this up until my last prison sentence which I received at the age of twenty eight. This time my sentence was for 18 months. It was in prison on this occasion that I decided that I simply had to get myself off drugs for good as I could not go on living like this. I came out of prison on the 4th October 2008 and went to live in a tent until a bed became available at the Sanctuary night shelter. When I finally got a bed there I got on well with my key worker, and was regular in taking my prescription medication every day to help me stay away from drugs. I was only in the Sanctuary for a short time when my key worker told me about GROW and the sort of support I would get from them. At first I was really very worried about sharing a room, but I was convinced by the manager at GROW to visit their hostel and see for myself what it would be like to share a room. Once I had actually visited GROW and realised that it was a
safe, stable and quiet environment and somewhere that I could settle and use as a good solid base to begin to rebuild my life from the trash that it had been, back to somewhere that I could be proud of myself. I made an interview with Jamie (manager) which went really well, and I moved in a few days later on the 9th February 2009. I feel that it was the right move for me says James. “I have already grown up since coming into GROW, and I have been able to start sorting my life out at a pace that I can cope with, and I am still drug free. I feel that with the ongoing support that I am getting from GROW and the help and
support that I will get in the future, that I would like to achieve a stable life style with a job and my own accommodation while continuing to live drug free. I am so grateful for all the help I have received.