Here’s the story of Mark and his family and how Housing Options Scotland (HOS) helped them find their “right house, right place”.
Mark was a soldier in the Territorial Army. In 2003, while he was serving in Iraq, he got severely injured. Mark became blind in his right eye and suffered serious lower back injuries. In 2004, he was medically discharged from the Army. Mark’s situation prevented him from going back to a normal life. As his physical condition did not improve, his mental health started to decline as well.
Mark’s wife Kellie summarises Mark’s life change by saying:
“He went to the Army as a young man and he came back from the Army as an old man”
Mark and Kellie decided to contact HOS at the end of March 2017, feeling lost and alone.
“We’ve gone from having no clue on what to do to now moving to our own house in July!”, says Kellie. “The whole team at HOS has been amazing. They all speak to you so nicely, they’ve got compassion. They have listened to us very carefully and have perfectly understood our needs. I just wish we had found them sooner!”.
Everything went very quickly for the family of five. HOS not only helped them to move back to Roybridge, they also helped them to achieve a bigger dream: buying their own house!
“HOS put us in touch with a mortgage advisor. We had a little bit of savings and with the help of the LIFT scheme, we have now been able to secure a mortgage that is cheaper than our current rent!”.
On 1st July, the whole family will moved to a lovely 4 bedroom terraced house in the quiet village of Roybridge. “We are very much looking forward to our future now. We know we are going to be happy there! It is a slower pace of life and we will have friends and family for support.”
It will also take a lot of pressure off Kellie who used to worry a lot when she had to be away for work. Charlie, Sophie and Ewan are equally excited about their new life. They will have their own bedroom and a front and back garden to burn all their energy! As for Mark, he is feeling a lot more positive already.
“We can now see the light at the end of tunnel”.