The Treasures Foundation have been announced as one of the winners in the London Homelessness Awards 2024. They will find out which prize they have won, and their share of the £60,000 prize fund, at a special event at St Martins in the Fields in December. Jade Wye is now the Operations Manager at Treasures but has a history of substance abuse. We asked her to tell us her story.
I was 13 when I started using substances. My family background was quite chaotic, and I found some relief using. Looking back, I was an addict way before I started using. When I was very young, I’d binge on food and hide the wrappers, steal cash from mums’ purse, take my brothers inhaler – lots of little signs that I was looking for an escape. I leant from a young age that I could disassociate, and I learnt how to lie. Those two things carried me well into my addiction.
But I still did well at school and felt safe there. I went onto university and qualified as a mental health nurse; but I was using all the time. It is easy to hide addictions at university.
My life as a mental health nurse mirrored my childhood. Back then home was chaotic, and I hid at school. Now I was chaotic at home but hiding it at work by helping others with their needs.
Gradually, my using increased. I was not just a party girl, but now a heavy user. I was unreliable and unstable.
As a result of one specific bad incident, I was referred to the nursing council. My PIN, and so my career, was at risk. At the time I’d had some inpatient admissions and felt useless. I couldn’t stop using. People were trying to help but just didn’t know how to.
The referral to the council was the lowest point and I tried to kill myself. I was put into a medically induced coma to recover but when I came round, my very first thought was to use again, which I did.
I believed this was surely the rock bottom as it was a really dark time. I spent a long time as a psychiatric in patient. The staff suggested rehab and I was outraged that this was even suggested. “I am not an addict”!
But I did go to rehab and completed an eight-week programme. This was supportive but way too short a time. One of the things we know work at Treasures is that you can’t put arbitrary time limits on people. At Treasures the women can stay as long as they need to.
I still had my car at this point. I loved my car, even though some people thought it was a trigger. I wanted to use but was told that I’d be evicted if I did. But I thought I’d be ok as I had my car! I used again, became homeless and spent two months living in my car.
I didn’t realise how much my situation was impacting on people around me. I was full of self-pity and just thought, “no one cares”. Looking back, I am very grateful that people did stick around even though they might have had no direct contact.
I felt very alone and knew I needed to get back to rehab. One problem I found with services was that mental health teams thought my issue was substance abuse, and substance abuse teams thought it was my mental health. Again, this is a lesson we apply at Treasures – we see addiction as a mental health issue.
I did get back into rehab and eventually got into a female only trauma informed rehab in London. I met people there who told me about the Treasures Foundation and I met them. This worked and I maintained a relationship with the treasures team when I left rehab. I stopped using and really benefited from their support.
At this point I was in a supported house but with limited support. The treasures outreach team were essential. I would have been lost without them.
18 months later I became a trustee for Treasures. I was passionate about the work they did and extremely grateful for how they supported me, and I wanted to give something back. I was very hands on as a Trustee and worked closely with staff and residents.
This was very rewarding but not enough and so after a while I resigned as trustee and became a volunteer. A friend and I also made a podcast with the BBC about addiction and recovery, named Hooked: The unexpected addicts and we won multiple awards, featuring on television and radio.
A woman heard us on Woman’s’ Hour and listed to the podcast. She got in touch and said she wanted to help. She wanted to buy us a house! We said what we really needed was move on houses and she said she’d invest £2m. To be honest we weren’t sure this was genuine and didn’t think it would lead to anything, but she proved us wrong and bought us four move-on houses! She is a very humble lovely lady but doesn’t want too much publicity.
So, I kept volunteering, then I became pregnant and had my son. About the same time Treasures reviewed their organisation and recognised the need for the role of Operations Manager which I went for. I continue volunteering for a while then started as ops manager when son went to nursery.
My role as operations Manager is vast, but I love it. I deliver mental health support groups, a domestic violence recovery group and a trauma series group. This is my way of staying grounded and being connected with the women, alongside the other work I do which includes reviewing processes, creating policies and working closely with the CEO.
We use our personal experiences to mould Treasures into the organisation people need. I didn’t have the tools then to stop using back then, now I do. And I know I have lots to lose if I did use again. Seeing people today is a reminder of where I was.
To find out more about Treasures go to Welcome to Treasures Foundation – Treasures Foundation. You can also hear Jade’s BBC Podcast by going to spotify, itunes or BBC Sounds