When Luke found himself homeless at the age of 19, he was understandably petrified. After years of living with his mum, friction and arguments began to mount – leaving Luke no other option than to move out and live on the streets.
At his lowest point ever and struggling to cope with the dangers of being homeless, Luke found out about DENS through Dacorum Borough Council. After reaching out to DENS for help with his situation, he was offered a room at The Elms hostel.
Despite the initial challenges of living in the hostel, Luke soon began to regain his confidence and positive outlook on life. Motivated to turn his fortunes around, he started selling second-hand clothing and other items online to help earn money.
Luke has since moved on to independent shared accommodation with the support of a DENS key worker. He is hoping to use his selling experience to start his own business and even has ambitions of opening a homeless shelter by 2030. Best of all, Luke is now getting on with his mum better than ever.
Thank you to Ross Buchanan, a Television Production student at the University of Gloucestershire, for highlighting Luke’s story in the short documentary, ‘When Life Gives You Lemons’.