Every time she picks up her mobile phone Debbie's screensaver reminds of how far she's come.
Looking back at her is a photo of her close friend Lee, whose sudden, unexpected death shook her to the core, but also inspired her to 'sort my life out'.
Debbie, a recovering alcoholic who was also addicted to smoking cannabis, has been homeless on and off for the best part of 30 years, either sleeping rough on the streets or crashing on friends' sofas.
The 50-year-old, who asked for her surname not to be printed, grew up in Redcar in North Yorkshire.
READ MORE: Christmas campaign helps fund 1,000 emergency beds for rough sleepers as generous Mancunians smash £30k target
A bright student, who turned down the opportunity to study physics at university, she became homeless for the first time aged 21 when her friend and flatmate moved her boyfriend in.
She flitted around the country, living at various times in Portsmouth, London, Cornwall, Watford and Nottingham, before she eventually found herself sleeping rough in Shrewsbury.
But when some of the friends she was hanging around with began smoking crack, she knew it was time to move on again.
She went to the National Express coach station and asked for a ticket on the 'first bus out of here', paying for it with her last £20 plus 20p she borrowed from a passer-by.
A few hours later she landed in Manchester carrying two rucksacks packed with everything she owned.
For the next few years she bounced around various homeless shelters and friends' couches and spent time on the streets.
And all the while her boozing and smoking was getting worse.
By the summer of 2019 she was drinking up to a dozen cans of super-strength lager a day, while also smoking large amounts of weed.
At the same time she developed an addiction to Red Bull energy drinks, a hangover from when she had a job doing night shifts.
But the turning point came when her pal Lee, a former heroin user she'd met at the Loaves and Fishes homeless charity in Salford, tragically died after an accidental overdose.
Debbie was heartbroken, but also determined some good would come of it.
Through Loaves and Fishes she was put on a waiting list for rehab and in August 2019 she was given a place at a women's only facility in Salford.
Then the hard work really began.
"It's extremely tough when you first go in," said Debbie.
"It's cold turkey. You have no phone, very little contact with the outside world, you're only allowed two phone calls a week, no more than 15 minutes in total. For the women with kids it was extremely tough.
"All your benefits get handed over to them and you get £24.90 a week to get luxury items like toiletries.
"When I first went in I thought I was superior to some of the others because I was 'only' on lager, I wasn't on spirits.
"I had a superiority complex, but it's soon knocked out of you.
"You realise it's not how much you have or whatever substance it is, it's the fact that your body needs it.
"Addiction is a disease. A lot more people are coming to understand that these days thankfully."
At the facility they use a 12 step programme, similar to Alcoholics Anonymous, and slowly, but surely, Debbie got sober.
As she progressed through the programme she moved into a shared house with other recovering addicts.
And then in September this year, after two years of treatment, she got her own flat in Eccles.
She likes it because it's on the ground floor, which helps with her COPD, and it's handy for Aldi.
But arguably just as importantly she's also volunteering with homeless charity Shelter's Health Now scheme as a 'peer advocate' helping homeless people get healthcare.
The work has given her a 'new lease of life', she says.
"It's done wonders for me. It's done so much for my mental health. I'm loving life.
"It makes me feel valued. It's something I can give back for all the help I've had over the years."
But despite now having a roof over her head, Debbie says the experience of being homeless never goes away.
"I went on a bus to Bury to the other day and we went past a patch of bushes and I thought 'That would be a good place to sleep'," she said.
"Once you've experienced it, it's something that never leaves you. Don't ever sleep somewhere too public, unless you're with a big group of people, hide yourself away and carry a baseball bat.
"It's very, very scary at first, but you adapt. We can adapt to just about anything.
"There's been times when, not that I've wanted to kill myself, but if I hadn't woke up the next day it would have been no great shakes.
"You are laid on the floor in a doorway and people walk past and spit on you.
"I had one occasion when somebody urinated on my sleeping bag. Fortunately I wasn't in it at the time, but you come back and find that - it's extremely degrading, extremely harrowing.
"I've been threatened with syringes, vicious dogs. It's something you sort of adjust to. In a strange way you become to expect it."
And while Debbie had a roof over her head throughout the pandemic she says lockdown made being homeless even even more gruelling.
"All the washrooms were closed down. You couldn't brush your teeth in the Arndale toilets.
"Have you ever brushed your teeth in a public toilet? It is the most embarrassing degrading thing you can do. The looks that you get.
"Then not to be able to do that, not to be able to have a wash for a month because everything was locked down. It's hard to explain how it makes you feel. I was lucky because I had a roof over my head during covid, but a lot of my friends have been street homeless."
Now, however, Debbie is looking forward to new year with optimism.
She hopes the volunteering could lead to a full-time job, she's attending regular AA meetings, has a good group of friends living close by and for the first time in her life she's saving up and plans to buy a washing machine.
And, having fallen in love with a ginger Tom cat named Christian that lived in the rehab centre, in the new year she also plans to get a cat from a rescue shelter.
It's been a long and often hard struggle, but Debbie says now she is excited for the future.
"Two and a half years ago I was a drunken bum who nobody wanted to know," she said.
"All of a sudden I get clean, I started volunteering with Shelter and I'm an 'expert by experience'.
"It is very hard work, but if you're prepared to work you can get out of it.
"You've got to jump through hoops and show that you can look after yourself. But it's worth it in the end.
"Just hang there and the rest will follow."
This Christmas generous Mancs dug deep to help ensure hundreds of rough sleepers have a roof over the heads.
Hundreds of you have donated to Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham's Christmas charity campaign smash its £30,000 target to fund 1,000 emergency beds for the homeless.
Mr Burnham said: "We’ve smashed our fundraising target in spite of the uncertainty and challenges of recent weeks, and that says everything about the spirit of people here in Greater Manchester.
"Because of you, we will be able to offer 1,000 beds over Christmas to those who need them most.
"From me, and everyone working tirelessly throughout the holidays supporting our A Bed Every Night shelters and other homelessness and rough sleeping services: a heartfelt thank you.
"More than just giving people somewhere safe and warm at Christmas, the money you have donated will enable us to provide personalised support and help them get back on their feet, every single day of the year.
"A Bed Every Night has helped us bring levels of rough sleeping back down to double figures for the first time in a decade. But one person out is one person too many.
"If we all pull together, we can end rough sleeping in Greater Manchester in 2022."
The Christmas campaign is part of the Mayor's A Bed Every Night' scheme across Greater Manchester.
Launched in 2018 by Mr Burnham it provides emergency beds and vital personal support for anyone rough sleeping across Greater Manchester.
Since 2019 the scheme has helped over 3,400 people and reduced rough sleeping by 57%, the Mayor's office say.
To make a donation click here.
