Finding work whilst homeless – Kimberley’s Story

When Kimberley joined Better Working Futures, she had recently been made homeless and had been out of work for two years due to health conditions, which impacted her confidence and self-belief.

During her first appointment, she met Employment Adviser, Amanda, who was able to assess and identify areas where Kimberley needed support. They began by discussing her previous skills and experience, as well as her current situation in which she had been made homeless and was staying with a friend.

Kimberley and Amanda formed a close working relationship, which really helped Kimberley to open up about her concerns around going back to work and also her career goals and future ambitions.

“I wanted to make a change to my life.”

Amanda completed a Better Off Calculation with Kimberley, to show how much she would be better off financially by working. This gave Kimberley clarity and focus towards going back to work and being able to save for a place of her own.

During her time on Better Working Futures, Kimberley completed several of our in-house courses, which supported her with health and wellbeing, creating a new and updated CV, and digital inclusion sessions, which helped her to search and apply for jobs online.

Amanda told us:

“We were able to support Kimberley with soft skills like reading and writing, along with vouchers for interview clothes, which helped boost her confidence. The impact Better Working Futures services had on Kimberley was that she gained the skills and confidence to progress into work, and now has the determination to save up with her earnings, to rent her own place and start to build a new home for herself.

“Prior to Kimberley’s first interview, her initial reaction was panic. So, we discussed that we would take it slow, so this didn’t have an overwhelming effect on her. The employer invited her for an interview, and she was offered a role with the cleaning department for a bus station.”