{"id":6023,"date":"2023-03-30T12:18:30","date_gmt":"2023-03-30T11:18:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.depaul.org.uk\/?post_type=stories&p=6023"},"modified":"2023-10-23T16:33:17","modified_gmt":"2023-10-23T15:33:17","slug":"claudias-story","status":"publish","type":"stories","link":"https:\/\/www.depaul.org.uk\/stories\/claudias-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Claudia’s story"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Claudia, 23, was referred to Depaul UK when the cost-of-living crisis began to overwhelm her. She is being given vital assistance to help her cope.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy mental health was going down and keeping on top of things went down with it. My rent had gone up, the gas and electricity had gone up… I couldn\u2019t sort out my bills. And that affected my mental health. It\u2019s an ongoing thing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m in work. I have a job in a charity as an advocate for young people, mostly young care leavers. The work is important to me as I was in care myself. From the age of about 11, over seven or eight years I had a mixture of foster parents, care homes, and different sorts of semi-independent living.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe cost-of-living crisis impacts care leavers more as we don\u2019t have a family we can go back to. We can\u2019t go to our parent\u2019s house and raid the fridge. We\u2019re literally by ourselves. It\u2019s hard because we\u2019ve come out of care so we\u2019re dealing with a lot of trauma. This is just another obstacle to go through.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe place I\u2019m in now is my own council flat. I got it when I was 20. I was given a grant to buy white goods because I was a care leaver. But once you\u2019ve bought them you don\u2019t have much money left to do anything like decorate. My home has a minimum of furniture in it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy job is good, it’s what I want to do. I go and speak to managers about the views of young people. But I don\u2019t earn a big wage. And the number of hours I work each month can affect my Universal Credit. The majority of the money I get goes on household bills. After that, there\u2019s not much left. Sometimes it\u2019s choosing whether it\u2019s food or electricity in the month. Or I just go without, wrap up warm, and see if I can use a friend\u2019s washer.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m grateful I get help from Jennifer at Depaul UK. She does regular check-ins with me. If I\u2019m not sure how to deal with something like council tax arrears, she will help me by providing a number to call or recommending a support service that can help me.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cCosts rising has definitely been a struggle. It\u2019s always on my mind. If you\u2019re not feeling great with your mental health and at the same time you can\u2019t eat, it\u2019s a bad combination.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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