Denise is homeless in Cornwall, United Kingdom. Although Denise and I met online some time ago, we just connected in person while I was visiting Manchester, England for With One Voice International Arts and Homelessness Summit.
I first met Denise on Twitter. I was impressed with how Denise openly and honestly shared publicly about struggling with homelessness, addiction to alcohol, depression, and the abusive relationships with men that she found herself in.
What began as therapy, Denise turned into a blog called Just A Girl – My Life. Denise is now a mental health writer and she spends her time talking about homelessness and depression hoping her story will educate and inspire other homeless women who may be going through the same situation.
Denise has been homeless in the UK for nearly five years. She shares about how quickly homeless people adapt to a bad situation and abnormal becomes normal. Denise is lucky that she never ended up sleeping rough on the streets but she has still ben pushed around the social support system. Just like here in the United States, the UK has a large percentage of hidden homeless sleeping on couches in situations that are not safe.