After his long-term relationship ended, Adam found himself with nowhere to go. When his father passed away, his situation spiralled and he was forced to sleep rough.
“It didn’t work out with the relationship I was in and I came home back to Middlesbrough.
“My dad was like my best mate, he was like my mother and my father. My old man passed away and I thought it was time to make amends with my mum. Then, when I needed her most, she wasn’t there. She kicked me out.
“I tried to mix it up with a few friends, and then if I couldn’t, I had to go on the streets. I was sleeping in all sorts of places. For three nights, I stayed really, really rough which I never thought I’d ever, ever have to do. It’s embarrassing saying it really. I stayed on the street once, and then in a block of flats in a drying room.
“It was awful. I’m a tradesman ─ a bricklayer ─ but I couldn’t transport my tools from wherever I was staying to work. I had always had my little boy when I had a stable home but when I came back to Middlesbrough I didn’t have a stable home so I weren’t seeing him either.
“Just everything went really, really downhill. I kept trying the council but I kept getting pushed from pillar to post and then I heard of Nightstop.
Nightstop is Depaul’s same night emergency accommodation, providing a safe place for people in crisis and the support to move on to a place to call home.
“I was with Nightstop for maybe one month. It was really good. They were all really lovely. There is nice people out there you know. I couldn’t believe how fast bad things can happen but the right people are out there.
“At the same time, Depaul helped me out with getting a house and I got funding for the first month of rent for my own flat. If it weren’t for Depaul, I wouldn’t have had no money to get this place. It’s beautiful ─ I’m in a little two bed flat. Painted it all. My son loves it. He’s got his own bedroom full of dinosaurs.
“I’m back working again too. I proper, really appreciate it. It can get you quite emotional. From being down in the dumps. If it weren’t for Nightstop ─ I would have still been there.
“Nightstop is the place to go. It really helped me.”
