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Bereavement, homelessness and addiction brought John and Joan together..
John's Story
8 years ago, John Gall's 37-year-old wife died of cancer. Left with his three teenage children, he began to drink and drink heavily. His life unravelled rapidly. He lost his house, his job as an employment agency manager and his children. For 6 months he begged on the streets of his home town, Peterbrough. A bus shelter was his home.
On New Year's Eve after begging from a young lad who he had not at first recognised as his own son, he moved away from familiar ground, to London. For some months he continued the relentless daily search for food and shelter. Then one morning, after a particularly heavy drinking binge the night before, he decided it was now time to sort himself out.
With persistence, he managed to get himself accepted into Emmaus, a community of homeless people who work to support themselves and other homeless charities. Through various agencies, John's children were traced. Initially the children thought John would return home with them but after seeing how happy he was at Emmaus, decided that he was best off there.
Joan's story
Joan arrived at Emmaus after John had been there some time. 6 years ago her mother and several relatives had died in the same week. Trying to cope with the loss, she took to gambling, using money which should have paid the mortgage and bills.
Joan was married at the time with two grown-up sons. The first her husband knew of her gambling was when some men arrived to repossess the house. Joan ran.
Like John's, her life began to spiral out of control. She spent time in a refuge and at Emmaus and in a violent relationship. She returned to the Emmaus community three and a half years ago.
John was part of the group that had helped Joan settle into Emmaus when she first arrived there. The relationship grew. Now divorced from her first husband, Joan married John in April last year.
They are the only married couple in the community and at the moment, Emmaus is their home.
Listen to John and Joan's story
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