"Emmaus Sheffield helps me be the best I can be."

Living in community at Emmaus Sheffield helps me to be the best person I'm able to be. 

I have been living in Emmaus Sheffield for about a year now and it was only the other day that I realised just how much it helps me.

I am 48 years old and have been street homeless, had no tenancy for years at a time, had private rented accommodation, council housing, supported housing association accommodation, lived in hostels, with family and friends and lived in four different communities.

I have worked in unskilled jobs, skilled roles, trained and studied. I have been involved in crime and drugs, been married and single. All of this I mention just to give a little background to where I'm coming from.

It has taken me all of my life to come to terms with who I am and to find some small amount of contentment with myself and to come to the realisation that I don't have to strive for perfection, instead I'm allowed to be a flawed individual - who would like to be a better human being, but can accept who I am today-.

So how does living at Emmaus Sheffield - a homeless charity - help me be the best I can be? As I said above I have lived and experiences most life situations and can without a doubt say that my times of living in community - living, working and playing with the same people.- works the best for me. When I live in community I am most contented, work hard, study, don't use drugs and am generally a productive member of society. When I live outside of community, I isolate myself mess up employment, use drugs and revert to crime, ending up in debt and homeless.

This pattern has happened time and time again, so many times that I know the way most people live doesn't work for me. Why? Because I am me and not someone else. Not every shaped peg fits into every shaped hole.

There are too many reasons to say why one way works for me and another doesn't, but one of the reasons that Emmaus, and Emmaus Sheffield works for me is it doesn't ask more of me today than I can give and understands that I am flawed individual and gives me the space to be that person.

There is so much more to it than just this, the complete package that Emmaus Sheffield offers, it supports, equips, strengthens me and gives me the sense of worth and hope that I need to be the best I can be.