With the daunting challenge of needing an urgent place to live and have her daughter, Ava Hocking settled into our supported housing when she was eight months pregnant with her daughter Winnie.
Now, the mum and daughter are happily settled into their own socially-rented LiveWest home through our support.
Facing the reality of needing somewhere to provide for both her and her child when she was pregnant, Ava felt at ease once she came across our supported housing service.
Ava Hocking, aged 23, reflected on when she was living at our supported housing scheme. She said: “I’d be homeless if I wasn’t here (in supported housing), so it’s good.”
“It’s nice to know that I’ve got somewhere and there’s also help getting into a more permanent place which is nice and helpful.
“It’s nice to be able to provide for Winnie. She loves it. She loves all the other babies as well.
“We’ve been here since I was eight months pregnant. It’s been great.”
Moving from supported housing and into her own LiveWest home, we supported Ava with new life skills like setting up the bills and helping her move her belongings.
Now settling into her own home, Ava talks more about how beneficial the supported housing service was and the support she received from us during the newborn stage.
She said: “It's nice to have people downstairs all the time so like if I’m struggling in the night, I can go down and ask someone to help and hold her for a minute.
“Help with washing which is helpful in the newborn trenches.
“We have weekly support meeting as well which have been good and lots of support, lots of help with my appointments.”
Ava added: “My mental health is a lot better now, I feel a lot more stable at the minute so yeah, it’s definitely important, especially for young people as well.
“I’m 23 but I can image when your 16/17 years old, it’s even more helpful to have accommodation like this.”