Richard came to live in a property which is part of the Docherty Project in the summer of 2018. Richard had recently been released from prison and had a history of failed tenancies due to antisocial behaviour and other issues, primarily related to his drinking. When Richard moved in he was fairly chaotic and was upsetting his neighbours, who were petitioning to get him out of the property.
However, instead of evicting Richard, he was enabled to swap tenancies with another customer who did not have neighbours and was a quiet tenant. The supported housing scheme at Docherty House organised dedicated support for Richard from a housing and wellbeing officer and a resettlement worker. Further, Richard was told that no-one had given up on him, as he felt that this had happened in the past, and he was supported to reduce the harm caused by his drinking.
So what does supported housing mean for Richard? Richard says:
“I love this flat, this is the first time I’ve been happy in 27 years… If it wasn’t for Docherty giving me a second chance, I’d be in prison right now. This is the first time I’ve felt like I want to stop drinking, I’ve got things I want to do.”
Richard is doing well in his new tenancy, and whilst there have been some setbacks, he is making continual progress and is expressing his creativity through music, art, and poetry. In time, Richard will be supported into permanent accommodation where he can live independently.
The elastic approach of the Docherty project enabled Richard to have a second chance; he responded brilliantly to this and has put in a lot of work to enable his recovery, and continues to entertain everyone with his songs and poetry.
