Earlier this year, the Shadow Housing Minister Grant Shapps raised the issue that inmates currently face a “revolving door from prison release to homelessness.” He revealed that 78,000 prisoners in four years have been freed without a home to go to.
Once Nehemiah’s men have been through the Rehab programme, they are encouraged to live at our Move-on home, Victory Lodge, in Clapham – where they continue to receive the support they need while also being given a safe and structured environment in which they can rebuild their lives. These early stages following Rehab are crucial in ensuring the change in their lives is permanent.
Click here to discover how Victory Lodge is enabling reformed men to reintegrate back into society.
Dominic's Story
I was brought up in a Catholic family and was the eldest of seven children. My parents’ marriage was rocky to say the least, they would argue daily and then took their anger and frustration out on us kids – especially me.
When I was 13, the seventh baby was born and, aside from the inevitable pressures, us elder kids got even less attention. I remember thinking: “Why are they so angry with me?” I started smoking dope as a way of escaping.
I grew up feeling a huge sense of responsibility. At school I had low self-esteem and would lose concentration. My mind would often be on issues at home.
By 16, I was smoking grass every day. This led into taking ecstasy and cocaine every weekend and before I knew it I was totally dependent – although I didn’t think I had a problem.
It was working in a pub, where things really spiralled out of control. Some of the staff took drugs and I spent most of my time with them. Very soon I was in way over my head but was too naïve to realise it, let alone get out of it – I didn’t know how to get out of it. I dropped out of college because I lost interest and couldn’t concentrate.
I started to feel trapped. My whole life was a lie, I was ashamed of who I was. A chap called James Parker approached me one day and said he felt I needed to get something off my chest. I blurted my story out and he introduced me to Nehemiah. Aged 19 in May 2003 I started the Rehab course.
Rehab was, at times, by far the most difficult time of my life – because I was pushed into a place of reliving the past hurts and problems I’d suppressed with no possibility of numbing them with drugs. All of my shame, and feelings of rejection and anger were on the table.
After rehab I went to the Move-On home and started a BTEC National Diploma in Music which I passed with three distinctions. It was really the beginning of my recovery because I didn’t have the protection of Nehemiah. I had to learn how to ‘be’, and put into place all that I’d learned at the Rehab.
I met Esther, my wife, seven months later. We dated for two years and then got married in August 2007. I’m in my final year of a music degree at Goldsmiths and am in a band. I get on well with my parents and siblings now – I have established boundaries and we talk openly. I’m 24 and, thanks to Nehemiah, still have my whole life ahead of me.
