We’ve secured an additional £140,000 to continue delivering support for rough sleepers in the Medway area.
We’ve been delivering this service since August 2019, and it provides invaluable support to clients. There are many reasons why someone might be sleeping rough, and the team tailor their support to each person and their circumstances. We have worked with forty-three people since last August, and this additional funding will go towards hiring two new members of staff to help even more people.
The team works with each client to identify their needs and to achieve their goals, however big or small. This can range from setting up a bank account, applying for benefits and budget management, to registering with a GP and finding social activities. All these smaller steps create the building blocks to the larger goal and that’s to help clients find, furnish and manage their new home and life.
Sonya, Care Navigator, said
“Some of the people I work with are suffering mentally and physically from living on the streets. With our help we see their health improve and they start to engage much more with the services available to them. Supporting them through challenges and witnessing their joys and successes is very rewarding.”
Sometimes the help given by key members of staff can seem so small, but the impact it can have on someone is massive.
Sonya is supporting a gentleman that’s sleeping rough, she told us
“He’s a shy man, who covers his face when he speaks, stoops when he walks and has taken a while to gain his trust. I encouraged him to visit a local barber, when there he apologised quietly to staff for his appearance. The staff were amazing, as his beard came off and his hair was cut shorter, his head began to raise, and a smile began. The smile was contagious and as we left, the whole salon was smiling, saying how amazing he looked.”
This small step opened a world of possibilities, and this gentleman is now making plans to move into permanent accommodation, something he was reluctant to do before the trip to the barbers.
Amanda, Care Navigator, said
“The same thing is at the heart of it - a person who needs a smile, a hand to hold and someone to help them.”