Garry became homeless during a long battle with addiction. After several years of homelessness and insecure housing, Garry was referred to the House. Here, Garry joined our Employment Preparation Programme in 2022.
Garry flourished while on the course and demonstrated his impressive chef skills during work experience in the kitchen. Garry found the personal development aspects of the programme interesting and challenging. He said this helped him to recognise his strengths and also allowed him to become more reflective and flexible. After Garry graduated, he was offered a temporary role of breakfast chef at the House which enabled us to offer a breakfast menu to members. Despite continuing to manage difficult circumstances, Garry did his job brilliantly, leading to lots of great member feedback about his food. Garry is now working at the House full-time, which brought its own challenges as he transitions off benefits completely. He continues to get support from our Progression Team. He is now in stable housing and is thriving in his professional role.
Garry says “At the House, I’m able to be myself, I love the people in the kitchen team, I really enjoy my work and hopefully they’d agree I’m a strong member of a fantastic team.”