'Pressure makes diamonds': Kai's journey from homelessness to independence |
Kai, now 29, was just 12 when his parents separated and he moved in with his father.
Around the same time, his father was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), leaving Kai to juggle school with increasing caring responsibilities.
From attending hospital appointments to helping with day‑to‑day care, much of the responsibility fell on him. “I grew up fast,” he recalls.
As his father’s health deteriorated, Kai became his full‑time carer. Then, months before his 18th birthday, his father died, leaving him alone and, because he was not named on the tenancy, without anywhere stable to stay. The loss forced him to handle grief, housing uncertainty and sudden independence with limited support.
Eventually, he was offered a place in a Centrepoint Independent Living Programme home, which caps rent at a third of a resident’s earnings and provides support to help young people manage money, maintain employment and sustain a tenancy.
He recognises how challenging the decade since has been, including the loss of his father and the transition into living independently. Throughout, he has tried to rely on what he calls a “positive mental attitude”, focusing on accepting his circumstances and finding ways to move forward rather than dwelling on setbacks.
Kai says the early period of living in his one-bedroom flat was a major adjustment as he adapted to living on his own for the first time. Centrepoint provided practical support, including food vouchers, which he says made a significant difference in his first year.
Determined to build a future, he trained in security and CCTV through youth employment programmes and later secured work in building security.
At 26, he moved into........