We are very proud of our work preventing homelessness by engaging with people with housing needs as early as possible. We also work with homeless people to get them into suitable accommodation, most often by signposting to the right organisation to help them. We have a small team of IAG workers who will try to help with any situation we are presented with.
As with our other services our Housing support programmes were severely challenged by the Covid-19 pandemic. We offered support online, by phone or by socially distanced face to face appointments. Our Assessment Centre closed in April 2020 when we were instructed by the GLA and Brent Council to move all clients to hotels as our living quarters here were not suitable to social distancing. The closure of the Assessment Centre meant the loss of most of our Housing staff. Whilst most clients were eventually housed, we have lost a key component of our housing service i.e. the ability to offer emergency accommodation to single homeless people.
Our Boost Up programme supporting 18 – 24-year-old homeless people into secure accommodation ended in June 2021 as funding ceased at that point. Our Big Lottery funded ‘Independent Lifestyles’ project also continued to support clients but ended in June 2021.
Key achievements 2021:
- 146 single homeless people supported into housing
- 90 people offered support with associated challenges e.g. benefits advice, financial and debt information, access to NHS services
- Average of 60 people received meals each week in the first 9 months of the pandemic
- Hybrid support via face to face and phone/digital support
We continue to help with housing assistance today, helping liaise with landlords and making applications to housing associations and local council. Please get in touch if you wish to book an appointment.
