May 13, 2015

Hannah’s Turnaround Story

The Early Years…

On the surface Hannah’s life had been one of affluence. She wanted for nothing; best clothes, best jewellery, best houses, all of which was provided through the proceeds of drugs. Her mother was a drug dealer and gang culture was the norm.

Hannah was eventually removed from her mother’s care at age 10. At 14 she moved in with her boyfriend’s parents and fell pregnant at 16. After a tumultuous few years Hannah separated from the child’s father. The following few months were fraught with difficulties, but eventually Hannah settled down, both baby and mum were well and happy, Hannah was working and had her own place. She’d even met somebody new, a lad from Liverpool who was working in Hull. Things were looking up …until her sister came to stay.

It was the night of Hannah’s 19th birthday, she was working late and returned home to find her sister with a load of people, some of whom Hannah didn’t know. Suddenly she saw blue lights, when she looked outside she saw an armed response team.

Hannah wasn’t involved and was released but social services had decided to remove her child from the home, and they named Hannah’s mother as the child’s legal guardian. She stood on her mother’s step crying and begging, but the only thing this achieved was a violent assault at the hands of her mother that landed Hannah in hospital. She eventually recovered but her mum still refused her access.

Moving to Liverpool…..

Hannah decided her only option was to start a new life in Liverpool, without her son. 3 years later, and with a new baby, Tom , Hannah was ready to fight for her family. But when her now 6 year old son was returned to her, he became violent with his new baby brother. Hannah’s partner left her under the strain and eventually it was agreed that her oldest would go into foster care for the sake of Tom.

It wasn’t long before she embarked on a new relationship with a man who would turn out to be her worst nightmare, Derek. A few months down the line that he’d moved in with Hannah, and soon after this the controlling behaviour started to rear its ugly head, along with involvement in gangs and drugs. Tom’s dad immediately took action to have him removed into his care. Hannah was left with two children that she could only see for one day a month.

In addition to this, soon after she lost Tom, Hannah’s boyfriend called her, to say he wouldn’t be back, that he’d met someone else. Hannah was distraught. When he turned up the following day he was enraged when he saw that Hannah had packed his bags for him. He assaulted her and she required several stitches. In the hospital Hannah did a lot of reflecting on her life and shed many tears over where she’d ended up.

“I remember going to my house a few days after being out of the hospital and the neighbour told me that Derek had been with a van and emptied most of my furniture out of my home. I grabbed what stuff I needed and got out of there. From there I went to a hostel where I stayed for nearly five months, it’s where I spent Christmas without my children and woke up with drug addicts and prostitutes instead.”

It was while Hannah was in the supported accommodation that the Matrix squad turned up at 8am to take her to St Anne Street police station to be charged with cultivating cannabis. She was eventually convicted and received a suspended sentence. Her boyfriend was never charged with anything.

Turning around…

“In January of 2013 I was interviewed to go into Riverside Supported Housing and a few weeks later I was placed in my own one bedroom flat in dovecot. It felt amazing, although it wasn’t as nice as the houses I’d had it was mine and I had my own front door that I could lock.”

Hannah’s offender manager suggested Women’s Turnaround might be able to help her with her current issues. She referred her in and Hannah never looked back.

Hannah engaged well from the outset and with a dogged determination threw herself into every self help programme we ran. She would spend at least 4 days per week on the centre computer filling in applications for jobs. In addition, and to support her application for Support Work, Hannah completed the ‘Mentors’ programme at the Basement, after which she worked for them on a voluntary basis. She’s been doing her maths and English qualification with Mark Soady from Manchester College and is the first woman at the ISIS Centre to pass her English exam.

She has always demonstrated her commitment to moving forward and putting her past life well and truly behind her. She has been proactive when dealing with problems and the turnaround staff describe her as ‘essentially the perfect client ‘ and her outcomes have been far better than expected considering she has a conviction for cultivating cannabis. She has her children staying over weekends and is in a healthy relationship with a man who has repeatedly demonstrated his love and commitment. And, Hannah achieved her dream of becoming a Support Worker after successfully interviewing for Trainee Project Worker for Riverside’s Liverpool Waves of Hope project.

Hannah epitomizes determination and guts and is a shining example of how people can turn their lives around.