52 Lives

#88 Erica

Request: A dermatologist / Gifts from Amazon / Gift cards

This week we would like to help a 24 year old woman from London called Erica. We heard about Erica from a Family Nurse.

Erica has been in hospital for the last 16 months on a mental health ward. She was suffering from anxiety and depression and reached the point where she was self harming and suicidal. 

She has been on a course of treatment involving medication and therapy. And after a lot of time, hard work and treatment, Erica is now ready to move out of the hospital and into supported accommodation. She will be living in a flat on her own, but there will be support available to her during the day if she needs it.

She is so excited about the idea of living independently, but she is also very anxious about the move. She has never had to do things like pay bills or shop for food before. And it’s daunting. She has a lot of emotional support around her now, but she is struggling on a practical level. She needs a lot of things for her flat, but doesn’t have any savings to help her get started.

Erica has been through a lot. She needs this fresh start to be a positive one – not one filled with fear and worry. As well as her financial worries, Erica is quite self conscious about the scars on her arms - they are a constant reminder of bad times for her. With your help, we want to help her feel happy and supported and ready to face the world again.

What We Need

  1. Tesco gift cards – to help cover Erica’s groceries for a little while to help her get on her feet.
  2. Boots pharmacy gift cards - to help Erica buy the creams she needs for her scars
  3. Household things – We have helped Erica to set up an Amazon wishlist with some of the things she needs. We have also included an option to buy Amazon gift cards so she can buy more things as she needs them.
  4. A Dermatologist - Erica is very self conscious of the scars on her arms. We are looking for a dermatologist to donate their services to help reduce the appearance of Erica's scars and allow her to have a proper fresh start. If you can help or know someone who can, please complete the form below.

.

What We Did

In just a few days, every household item had been bought from her wishlist, and we also received almost £500 in gift cards.

I'm also so happy to say that an amazing company - The Good Skin Company in Hampton - has offered to help Erica with her scars. Thank you so much to Kathryn and all the team for their immense kindness. www.thegoodskincompany.com.

You have all helped to give Erica such a boost just when she really needed it, and a chance at a fresh start.

Thank you xxx

"I am so so thankful to everyone that donated. I'm slowly settling into my flat and it's looking a lot more homely thanks to everyone's generosity. It's so encouraging to know that the world is full of such amazing, kind people and I want to say a special thank you to a lady called Teresa who sent me a lovely letter. I'm so grateful for 52 Lives and I'm going to try to help others whenever I can."