(The actual name of the individual has been changed for confidentiality reasons).
Mahram has been residing in many supported accommodation properties prior to moving to our Birmingham supported accommodation. Mahram is a victim of domestic abuse so has gone through a lot of struggles with depression and anxiety before arriving to our accommodation. Mahram was still quite down when at the accommodation so Urooj Ibrar and her colleague, Romana, had arranged for her to have counselling sessions with our councillor from Al-Aafiya Mental Health and Wellbeing Services CIC. Mahram found the counselling sessions very beneficial as she was able to get the right guidance and emotional support with what she had gone through in the past, in regard to the domestic abuse she experienced from her partner.
Mahram was originally not from Birmingham, so Mahram was not aware of many public places in Birmingham such as the city centre. We assisted Mahram with locating such key community spots using Google maps. Mahram was also not registered at a GP surgery, as well as her son, so we assisted Mahram with also doing this. Mahram’s son was of school age and so needed to start attending nursery. The support housing staff contacted several nurseries in the local area and assisted Mahram with enrolling her son into one of them.
We assisted Mahram with accessing local food banks when she was struggling financially such as attending a local discount food pantry, receiving food parcels from local mosques when necessary, and obtained food vouchers from community support services such as Citizen’s Advice Bureau. Mahram had always expressed to us that she wanted to get a bigger place of her own so that her and her son could settle down and begin a new, independent chapter in their lives.
This all became possible when Mahram found a property in the city of Bradford. Mahram visited the property and enjoyed its location, and decided that she wanted to make it her future ‘moving-on’ home. Urooj and Romana assisted her with this move by contacting local schools in Bradford to admit her son, dealing with council tax issues for the property etc. Mahram has now moved to the property and has settled down comfortably. She has become a very confident individual who has developed many independent living skills, which will help her greatly in the future. We are incredibly pleased that Mahram has settled down at her new home.
