HAGA - Residential Team

A residential supported housing scheme for people who have become homeless through their drinking or drug problem and are looking to rebuild their lives. This scheme is run in conjunction with Haringey Housing department.

1. I was working at a print shop in Wood Green, and living in a bedsit nearby. At that time I was just drinking socially with friends after work and at the weekend.

I began to suspect that my landlord was going through my mail, but when I asked him about it he just started shouting and threatened to hit me. That was just the beginning; he would shout abuse at me as I went up the stairs; I started to find my things going missing from my room and if I left any food in the kitchen it would mysteriously ‘disappear’.

2. I started to spend more time in my room, and got into the habit of drinking beer while I watched TV.

3. Soon I was drinking heavily every day, and I was sacked for poor attendance and making too many mistakes. After I lost my job the landlord became openly aggressive and abusive, so I moved out and went to stay with some friends.

4. At first it was OK, and sleeping on their sofa didn’t bother me too much, but soon my friends were getting impatient with me being there. I felt I was imposing, I had no money, and my drinking made it impossible for me to get a job. I had nowhere to go, and realised that unless I changed something I’d end up on the street.

5. One day at the library I saw a poster for HAGA. I called them and they suggested that I pop into the Day Centre.

6. Nobody pressured me, but I decided to do what they call a detox – I’d go to the Day Centre every day for counselling and to get the chlordiazepoxide medicine that they prescribed to help me stay off the drink.

7. I moved in to NewStart, a house Haga run where people with drink problems can stay while they sort themselves out. I was sharing with 4 other guys, and Haga staff were there during the day.

8. Each day I went to the Day Centre and attended the groups they run. It really helped me to start to understand myself, and why I turned to drink to cope with stress.

9. Soon I was well enough to start some employability training at Kinesis, to help me to get a new and better job. Now I’ve got a new job and my own flat. I can’t believe so much could change so quickly.