Women, Homelessness and Service Provision 29 Several women described being treated with compassion and respect by service providers and, in this context, trust appeared to be a fundamental building block in terms of women’s ability to foster positive connections with staff members. “They staff understand me as well. I suppose at the start they didn’t but now they do. Listening to my story about my past and things.” (Roisín, 37) “She key worker was the best and she was the one that I actually really opened up to. I went through a lot with her and learned a lot like.” (Grace, 31) Many described caring and encouraging relationships with their key workers, in particular, and these relationships appeared to have a positive impact on the women’s lives: “They staff are lovely here, everything that I have needed emotionally, financially, legally, health wise, absolutely everything has been provided … just support 24 hours a day” (Krystal, 32). Accounts of positive relationships with staff members were not restricted to reports of practical support and assistance (e.g. help with accessing welfare benefits and other services); the psychological and emotional support provided by staff members was particularly valued by women and cultivated feelings of belonging, safety and self-worth. “This place domestic violence refuge has become my world to me and the staff, I have become so close to the staff, and like so attached to them so I know all them very well and when I am feeling low and down, I go and have a little chat with them so I feel a bit better in me.” (Bina, 32) “They’re staff really good and they go the extra mile to make you feel like, you know, you’re a person. And you know it’s something you mightn’t have had in your family, so they kind of fill in that bit of extra emotional support that you never had.” (Sally, 47) Some, particularly those with lengthy homeless histories, had grown to know individual staff members within particular services exceptionally well and experienced a sense of care and support from these individuals: “I was helped so much … it was like a little family here domestic violence refuge” (Bernadette, 37). Liz, who had been moving between prison, acute hospitals (due to poor health) and emergency hostels for many years, talked about her multiple returns to one particular hostel where she was well acquainted with the manager and staff: “She manager has a soft spot for me – she always took me in to hostel”. She had developed relationships with different staff members and, over time, had grown to trust and confide in some more than others, as the following account demonstrates. “So, there’s things I wouldn’t tell them staff because they would go back and tell the rest of the staff and they would all know and I wouldn’t want them all to know, so… like me saying to staff member 1 that I feel like slipping resuming intravenous drug use, she doesn’t have to go and say that to staff member 2, like you know? So I can talk to her about why I feel like slipping and like what would stop me from slipping and what would stop me the next time I feel like slipping. You know like, she would talk me around it and has talked me out of it relapse two or three times.” (Liz, 38)
Women, Homelessness and Service Provision
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