On the outside, Naomi* is a young, capable single mum to a four-year-old boy. She lives in a quiet, well-maintained flat and will often go about her day as usual; she’ll take her son to nursery and then go to work. But on the inside, life is not that simple.
Diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, complex post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression, and now undergoing an assessment for autism and ADHD, Naomi is determined to lead a ‘normal’ life with her son. But cries for help are not uncommon, and they often come accompanied by self-harm.
Naomi accessed our Oxfordshire Mental Health Support Service, where she met Kevin – one of our Case Workers. Together, they identified what personalised support was needed to improve her situation, settling on financial support as an excellent place to start. With Kevin’s encouragement and guidance, Naomi completed most of the PIP form herself despite finding one of the questions quite triggering, making it challenging to finish. Kevin was able to help Naomi overcome these feelings by incorporating distraction techniques, enabling her to complete the form over three sessions. Unfortunately, Naomi was not awarded PIP, so Kevin supported her to begin the appeal process.
The next few months were difficult, and Naomi decided that moving out of Oxford was the best choice for her. The area reminded her of her most recent trauma, making it difficult for her to recover. As well as receiving help from Connection Support, Naomi worked with a Mental Health Support Worker through her GP. This individual was later promoted, making Naomi feel like she was losing “a great positive help” in her life. If that wasn’t enough, Naomi discovered that she would no longer be eligible for the rent top-up she was receiving if she moved.
Knowing how vital moving was for Naomi, Kevin devised a plan. He advised her to apply for the local housing register and contact her Housing Coach – two weeks later, Naomi was bidding and was in the top 20 on three properties! Kevin wrote Naomi a supporting letter and provided her with a report (which outlined their time together) so that both could be used as evidence to support her case. Almost immediately, Naomi was told that she’d been referred to the Health and Housing team, and after a visit with them, she was moved from Band D to Band B – the highest band we could expect.
Although Naomi was is still waiting for a suitable house to bid on, Kevin’s continued support empowered her to make changes that would drastically improve her life. Through Kevin’s continued support, Naomi developed the independence to address her challenges head on.
*To protect our client’s privacy, names have been changed and stock imagery has been used in place of real photographs.
