ILiveInAYM

I was expecting at least one reference to the song ;)

In all seriousness, it is, yeah. Don't know if to give too much information as you're only messing about with the song, but it's great here.

I came from childrens homes (many) and I can't really go back to my mums (Would prefer not to go into that too in depth, but is there much point going back to mums, as i'm 18?) and I wanted to live in a certain town and move towards my independance. The YMCA helps with independance building through simple things such as managing money, keeping your flat tidy, health and relationships, so on.

Anyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race, religion - Is welcome here. This is a place for helping you get on your feet, and there are no boundaries to you are as long as:

You do not do / deal drugs in the flats (If you have a drug problem, the YM will help you overcome it)

No offensive weapons on site.

No aggressive, disruptive behaviour, etc.

Absolutely 100 percent clean. It's not like, a hundered beds in a warehouse like room. It's like an old mill which has apartments to one side, the old mill part has a young peoples drop in centre downstairs and the apartments are as clean as each resident makes them. (there are 12 flats) there is a 'back room' where young people have access to computers and TV etc communally. This is cleaned every few days by cleaners. Hygiene here is no different than anyones home, if not better :)

I think we have a different idea of a homeless shelter, which I can see where you're coming from.

We're not all too bad off, homeless is a generic term. It's more for people who can't afford to live with their parents or can't live due to social reasons (me). It's a block of 12 flats with a building attached for communal meetings with a tv and a computer. There's not really much room for improvement at the moment (bar the computers) but the goal of the YM is to help you in independance to getting your own apartment through private landlords or council housing. I don't know if this answers your question but what I'm trying to say is we pretty much have all those you asked, but my suggestion on how to improve this certain 'homeless' shelter is to add a damn phone line to the flats! it's the only thing they don't have!