Tionte shares why financial stability is important to him and his hopes and dreams for the future:
I’m Tionte and I’m 19 years old. Growing up my family used to say I was the quietest out of the bunch. We moved around a lot.
I was never settled really. I know more about travelling than actually being at home. Home is more of a feeling than a status for me. I never really had a home, I just had a house or a place to stay.
I came into the support of my local EveryYouth charity, 1625 Independent People, in Bristol. This had a positive impact on my future thanks to the EveryYouth Employed fund. Knowing that someone is actually there and you’re not backed up in a corner is really good to know and feel. The activities 1625IP provided distracted me, and they got me onto a therapist as well.
I’m feeling way better, I feel like my old self would be very jealous of me right now. I have been through so much and I look back on it and I don’t treat homelessness like it was nothing, I treat it like it was actually a really good milestone to experience because it changed me, and helped me be the person that I am today, and that’s what I love the most about it.
Three years ago I wanted to be a rapper and now I want to be a brick layer. I would like to have financial stability, not worrying if I have enough to pay for the weekly shopping or knowing if I get halfway through the month, I’ll still have money left.
“I’m feeling way better, I feel like my old self would be very jealous of me right now.”
As I’m a trans man, that’s also the reason I want to work in the trades, so I can get more money and go for that. Having financial stability would be a dream I always dreamt about since I was five.
My advice to other people in a similar situation would be to always put yourself first. Know your boundaries and what you can handle – because if you can’t handle something, you should speak up.
Don’t keep it inside. If you don’t have anyone, then there’s always hope somewhere.
