Ashley’s Story

Names have been changed to protect identity

Ashley has been receiving support from our Young Parents Tenancy Support Programme (YPTS) and has managed to make excellent progress. YPTS helps young parents in their own homes to gain the skills and confidence that they need to become effective parents and confident, independent individuals. Our work with young families typically includes budgeting, emotional well-being, parenting skills, the elimination of anti-social behaviour, neighbour disputes, and access to education and training for both parents and children. This is Ashley’s personal story about her progress with YWCA Yorkshire.

Ashley was referred to YWCA by social care in November 2019 and was facing homelessness due to the support of her last tenancy service coming to an end. At the time, Ashley was expecting her first child and had a difficult history of drug usage and an abusive relationship. She was assigned a key worker at YWCA Yorkshire who visited weekly and offered emotional and practical support. After giving birth to to a baby boy, Ashley moved into foster care with the baby to support and monitor the difficult transition into parenthood.

Training and further education were identified by Ashley’s key worker to help her gain the skills she needed to succeed living independently. With support, Ashley was able to complete some mandatory training around safe sleeping and drugs and alcohol. She worked hard to achieve an NOCN qualification in domestic abuse and went on to complete the freedom programme to extend her knowledge around preventing harm to herself and her child.

Impact

Through hard work and determination, Ashley was allowed to go back to her own home with her baby due to the good progress she had made. All tenancy related issues were set up and dealt with, and Ashley continues to engage with our service and is continuing to meet all requirements set out in her plan. She no longer uses drugs and has had no contact with baby’s father.

“ I am very happy with the support my key worker gives me, she has helped me and I am grateful for the support she has given me”

We are so proud of Ashley’s progress and wish her the best of luck as she moves towards living independently and growing her confidence. If you or anyone you know are experiencing similar problems, you can find out more about our centres here.