Aaron’s Success Story

“I feel great, I feel proud of myself, pride in my future. Now I feel prepared for a better life and ready for more success to come my way. Thank you to all the staff and everyone who has helped me along my journey.” – Aaron

In April 2018, we were blessed to welcome Aaron into Hightrees, our supported living facility in Enfield. He has come a long way and we wanted to share his success story, which he happily agreed to. Aaron sat down with Jonathan and Anca, who congratulated him on his success with living independently and answered some questions regarding his experience at Hightrees.

 

Aaron described his initial experience when moving into Hightrees as “positive, hopeful, and encouraging.” Aaron expressed his excitement regarding the big support network surrounding him as this made him feel secure. The only daunting aspect was the thought of meeting new people, however, the staff soon reassured him and welcomed him into his new home.

When Aaron was asked about his expectations and goals, he said he would love to “walk away with a home, to make progress with my business, which I have always been passionate about, to stop/control my drug usage, to improve my social and health needs.”

 

The amount of support and dedication from members of staff, and one-to-one sessions Aaron attended, is what he believed contributed to his success. He also added he felt safe and secure which really helped him on his journey.

There were many positive stories Aaron shared regarding living at Hightrees. The only incident which occurred that triggered Aaron was when his wallet got stolen. Although an incredibly upsetting incident, Aaron learned from his own personal growth how to deescalate his emotions. Not only this but he also learned self-love and skills on how to control his emotions.

 

Hightrees offers different activities for service users such as playing football. At the start Aaron was unsure whether to join in, however as time went on, he decided to get involved. Not only did Aaron enjoy playing, but this also helped dramatically in improving his social skills.

Aaron was asked what he will take away from his experience at Hightrees. He claimed that it has helped him gain invaluable knowledge regarding mental health conditions, and he has learnt skills on how to efficiently manage his emotions, improving his quality of life. Aaron mentioned he has received useful advice on how to deal with addiction and the basis of addiction. He added that “living here made me feel very productive about my recovery, and now I feel productive and prepared for my future. I believe I could be valuable to other people, who have for the first time experienced mental health.”

Aaron believes there are no improvements that can be made to enhance the service at Hightrees. The advice he would pass onto new potential clients would be to take it seriously. He advises anyone who is considering moving in to stay focused and try not to allow bad influences to stop their progress.

 

Aaron was thanked by Jonathan and Anca for his time and effort and was congratulated on his great success so far. The Service Manager, Delroy, also expressed his best wishes to Aaron for all his future endeavors and kindly left him with a special housewarming gift.