We have a varied community of Supported Lodgings providers, including single providers like district nurse Debbie.
Debbie’s decision to becoming a supported lodgings provider was based on several factors but something that really influenced her was having parents who fostered when she was younger.
“My parents were foster carers when I was growing up and it was always something I wanted to do,” she said. “But when I got married and had children of my own, we moved around a lot.” However, after Debbie’s circumstances changed and she separated from her husband she re-considered fostering but didn’t really want to go back to looking after young children.
“With two of my three boys having moved out, leaving me with just my 16-year-old son, I always had an empty room and kept thinking there were young people out there who could be homeless so I thought this would be a nice thing to do.”
Instead, Supported Lodgings felt like a natural progression that also fitted with her career. Prompted by her mother who found an advert for supported lodgings online, she contacted Cardiff Council and started her Supported Lodgings journey to become a provider.
Debbie was offered her first placement last October. Debbie had some initial concerns about offering a young person a room in her home. However, the team worked closely with Debbie to ensure that the placement was a good match for her family, as well as the young person. Debbie was pleased to see that her son and her young person got on very well. “It’s lovely to see the two of them together, batting off each other.”
With Debbie’s encouragement, the young person has been able to combine their college studies with a part-time job and as a result has been able to save enough money to pay for a course of driving lessons, furthering their journey towards independence.
“The past six months have really flown by,” said Debbie, “and they’ve achieved a lot already. When they do eventually move on hopefully, I will see them set up with a flat and a good career and we’ll keep in touch. As for me, I’ll certainly do this again and would recommend this to anyone who has a spare room – it’s very rewarding.”
