Housing First - '14 Days of Christmas' - 30/11/2022

“When I was first introduced to Karen, she was begging by the Peace Gardens. I thought to myself, ‘how on Earth am I going to be able to help this woman’, because she looked seriously unwell, both mentally and physically. She had just been discharged from Cygnet Hospital and returned to a chaotic lifestyle of begging, drug use, and not engaging with or attending any services.

Building trust was a challenge. In her own words, Karen “sacked off” any support offered to her. After another month-long spell in the hospital when Karen was very seriously unwell, we started to build a trusting relationship. Away from negative influences, Karen started to open up, talk, and accept help.

Now, four months on, the change could hardly be more dramatic! Karen is housed, via Housing First, away from the city centre, and is happy and enjoying life. She’s integrating herself into the local community, visiting the library regularly as she loves to read, and is starting to access support for her mental health. Her aggression is much reduced, and she’s accepting help from services, as she knows that more support is beneficial for her.

We still have lots of areas to work on together, but I’m hopeful for Karen’s future!”

 

As told to Help us Help by Enhanced Housing Officer, Gillian Crawford.

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Housing First is a person-centred, evidence-based approach to supporting homeless people who have high needs and histories of entrenched or repeat homelessness, and especially rough sleeping, to live in their own homes. It has been widely adopted across the US and Europe and increasingly in the UK, including in Sheffield.

Read more case studies from the team on our blog:

https://www.helpushelpsheffield.uk/blog/housing-first-success

https://www.helpushelpsheffield.uk/blog/what-a-difference-a-year-makes

 

Alison Wise for Help us Help, Dec 2022