A Kent mum who was sofa surfing and struggling with psychosis has told how she turned her life around - thanks to the love of her daughter.
Jodie, who asked not to give her surname, says she was "living out of bin bags and eating pot noodles" when she and her young daughter had nowhere permanent to stay.
But with the help of Canterbury-based homelessness charity Porchlight she is now enjoying a more stable and secure life.
As both World Homeless Day and World Mental Health Day fall today (October 10), Jodie is sharing her story with KentOnline to show that recovery is possible.
"Don't give up," she said. "Just keep trying. You might be in a dark place, but things can change. I'm proof of that."
She told how her clothes were stuffed in two black bin bags as she moved from place to place in Kent.
"You feel uncomfortable sofa surfing, because you don't know who to trust," she said.
"It was hard, really hard. But now I'm here and I'm doing voluntary work for Porchlight and it's given me structure and a routine."
Her life spiralled after years of trauma and instability, with Jodie and her daughter fleeing London for their own safety.
"We had to make sure we were safe, more so for my daughter," she explained.
The upheaval took its toll. Jodie found herself struggling with her mental health and using cannabis heavily - something she says pushed her into psychosis.
"I was in a psychosis four years ago. I haven't been in psychosis since, so you know that's the marijuana," she said.
"When you're in a psychosis, you don't even know what day it is, you don't know what you're doing, what you're saying.
"But when you heal, when you recover, you get flashbacks and think, 'Oh my God, did I do that?'
"I was hurting my daughter and hurting my family. And I thought, I've got to stop. I've got to stop and make a life, and a clean life."
She says the turning point came when she realised she was getting help but needed to meet it halfway.
"I'm getting all this help and I've got to put 50% myself into it as well, you know, for my recovery, for my mental health," she said.
"Because if I carried on, I would be sectioned again. And not only that, the tears in my daughter's eyes seeing me unwell in a psychosis... that's what made me stop."
Jodie has now been clean from marijuana for four years. She says her recovery was driven by two things - the support of Porchlight, and her daughter.
"My daughter gives me a reason to live," she said.
"Porchlight helped me a hell of a lot with my mental health. If it wasn't for them, I don't know where I'd be today."
She admits that during the worst years of her addiction, she barely recognised herself.
I'm not sofa surfing anymore and living out of bin bags and paper plates and eating pot noodles...
"You wouldn't have seen me," she said. "I'd be hazed out. I'd be stoned. I wouldn't have even washed my hair. I wouldn't have brushed my teeth.
"I know people do smoke it - I don't judge them - but when you go into a psychosis... I don't ever want to go back there."
Now, Jodie lives in secure accommodation arranged with Porchlight's help, close to shops and public transport.
"I'm safe," she said. "I've got a roof over my head, and I'm not sofa surfing anymore and living out of bin bags and paper plates and eating pot noodles.
"It's nice to do homemade food now - I use the air fryer, it's easy to use.
"I find Porchlight is amazing. They help people like me a lot, and they've given me structure and a routine. I feel like I am someone. I'm not stupid, I'm not sick. I'm learning new things and learning more. It's amazing."
She's even become part of the Porchlight team, volunteering to help others on their own journeys.
"It's given me a life - whatever normality is," she said. "Structure, routine. I'd be lost without them."
Her next goal is to join Porchlight as a paid member of staff, supporting people who are going through what she once did.
She said: "I know about domestic violence. I know about drugs. I know about mental health because I've experienced it myself.
"My advice to anyone struggling is call Porchlight, get support, take that big step. You might not think it's worth making that call, but it is. They can help you. It's a new path. Believe me, it's worth it."
Her daughter, now 27, is "over the moon" with how far her mum has come.
"She's a confident girl," said Jodie. "She thinks I'm amazing and says, 'Well done, Mum, keep up the work.' She used to visit me in hospital. Now she just sees me happy and well - and that means everything."
Porchlight says Jodie's story illustrates the link between homelessness and mental health - two crises that are "deeply connected" but too often treated separately.
The charity says the number of people who are homeless with a mental health diagnosis has risen by 37% in the past decade, and that about 194 people are sleeping rough in Kent every night, though the true number is likely higher.
Chief executive Tom Neumark said: "To properly address the UK's growing homelessness crisis, we must confront the mental health issues that accompany it.
"When people are in crisis with nowhere to turn, things can quickly spiral out of control. For some, that spiral ends in homelessness. Breaking this cycle requires compassion, support and systemic change."