building resilience

Over the years, Emmanuel had worked as a casual worker in construction, picking up a few useful skills along the way. However, Emmanuel suddenly became homeless. Without a stable income and credit history, he couldn’t find a suitable place to live at a rent he could afford. In the end, he was forced to spend over a year in and out of night shelters. These experiences seriously knocked Emmanuel’s confidence. His work and relationships suffered because of the strain of things. But he didn’t give up.

Emmanuel enrolled on one of our 13 week courses, brushing up the basic skills he had acquired over the years.  With the help of PHASES, Emmanuel was slowly able to piece things back together. He started to map out his future, thinking about a career as a builder and getting back into a proper work routine by volunteering with charities.

Emmanuel passed his course with flying colours. He learned some valuable new skills and updated his health and safety training. It brought back Emmanuel’s old confidence and armed with some positive self-belief, he began to plan his career in construction.

Owing to Emmanuel’s prior construction experience, the moment his course ended we were able to offer him paid employment on our empty homes renovations in Rotherhithe and Peckham. This also provided an opportunity for some additional mentoring, as Emmanuel got back into the swing of things. He prepared for his driving theory test and started practical lessons, ready to get his all-important driving licence.

Today, Emmanuel works as a general building contractor. He passed his driving test and bought a van. He has steadily built up the tools he needs for his varied jobs as his business grows.  Emmanuel still keeps in touch with us, six years down the line. From time to time, he joins the PHASES crew to carry out scheduled maintenance work on some of our flats and houses.