Health and homelessness: Amanda tells us more…
We’re calling for urgent action to be taken as we announce new statistics that show more than three quarters of people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless in Manchester, Bury and Salford identify as having mental health problems.
You can read more about the report and the findings by clicking here now.
Our head of homelessness, Amanda Croome, tells us more…
Which services are you responsible for in the charity and what do they do?
I’m responsible for our Caritas day centres for homeless people – Caritas Cornerstone in Manchester and Caritas Red Door in Bury.
Our day centres provide support and advice for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness as well as providing practical support including free, hot, nutritious meals, showers and clothing.
We also run activities to increase people’s skills, confidence and health and have a supported volunteering programme which gives people work experience while helping to run the service. Our day centres are health hubs which help people to access a full range of health services and run health promotion sessions. We also operate this health hub service at Loaves and Fishes Day Centre in Salford.
I also oversee our supported accommodation projects – Caritas Morning Star in Manchester – which provides accommodation for 20 single homeless men and provides them with support and help to move on, and our Caritas Young Parents’ Accommodation in Blackburn, which provides a safe home and support to six families and their babies.
What do we do to support people experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless?
People who are homeless or at risk of homelessness may need housing advice, but we provide much more than this. We provide advice and support and host a whole range of specialist advice and health services who run drop-ins at our day centres.
Our activity programmes help to increase people’s skills, confidence, health and wellbeing and include gardening, health walks, arts and crafts, basketball/table tennis and curling, IT and internet cafe, cookery and story time and play sessions with our families.
Our supported volunteering programmes help people to gain work-based skills and gain qualifications that can help them get back into employment.
In our supported accommodation projects, we provide one to one support to help people overcome the reasons that they became homeless and to prepare them for living independently in the community.
What’s your ultimate goal in terms of homelessness services at Caritas Salford?
Our ultimate goal is to ensure that everyone has a safe place to call home and that we prevent homelessness whenever possible.
Why are so many people experiencing homelessness in our area?
People become homeless for a whole range of reasons but some of the most common are relationship breakdowns and no-fault evictions from private rented accommodation.
There isn’t enough support to prevent people from becoming homeless and once someone has lost their home it is often very difficult to find a new home. Waiting lists are very long because of an acute shortage of affordable housing.
As well as the practical services that people often expect – such as hot showers, food, a warm place for people to stay – our charity also focusses on broader health and wellbeing of people, as highlighted in the new report launched this week. Can you tell us a bit more about what that involves?
All our services act as health hubs. At Cornerstone day centre in Manchester, for example, we have a local GP, a mobile nursing van, a drug and alcohol worker and a mental health worker who run weekly drop-in sessions on site. We also have health link workers who encourage and support people to attend appointments, to have screening and vaccinations and they run health promotion sessions to improve people’s wellbeing.
At our Red Door day centre in Bury we have an allotment garden and take people on weekly health walks in local parks and at our Young Parents’ Accommodation in Blackburn we run cookery classes which show parents how they can cook cheap, healthy meals to ensure that their families grow in good health.
Why is that wider more holistic approach so important?
Homelessness is just the final straw for many people – they may have been struggling with relationship, financial, employment, housing, drug/alcohol or mental health problems for some time before they finally lose their home. Unless we help them to tackle these problems then providing them with a new home won’t provide a long-term solution.
What do you think is most important to people who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless?
People who are homeless want the same as all of us – a good home, positive relationships and a purpose in life.
They also want to be heard and for people to believe in them and to help them to resolve their problems – this is why our staff and volunteers are so important, as we will walk the journey out of homelessness with them, ensuring that they are not alone and giving both practical support and encouragement along the way.
Is it more difficult for people to access basic health and wellbeing support when they’re homeless?
Everyone has the right to primary health care in the UK but being homeless is a real barrier to accessing this support. Often GP surgeries will refuse to register people who are homeless. Sometimes people find it difficult to keep their appointments or their health isn’t their priority when they have nowhere to live. They end up going to accident and emergency when their conditions are acute and more difficult to treat.
Living outside or in damp, overcrowded conditions can severely affect your health. Sometimes people turn to drugs or alcohol to try and escape from their problems and suicide and self-harm is far more prevalent amongst people who are homeless. It is difficult to look after yourself – to eat well, to exercise, to relax and sleep well – when you are homeless, so their general wellbeing and mental health is also poor.
What three things do you think would make the biggest difference in moving towards a Greater Manchester and Lancashire that’s free from homelessness?
We need central Government to finance our local councils to build more social housing that is good quality and truly affordable.
We also need central Government to properly fund homelessness services that both prevent people from becoming homeless and support them to resettle back into the community if they do become homeless. This includes services which help address the health needs of people who are homeless.
We need changes in policies such as ending no fault evictions, good landlord charters, changes to benefits and housing benefit so that people can afford to pay their rent and to eat and heat their homes.
If people want to support the work your teams do, how can they best help us in our work?
You can support our work by making a financial donation through our website – sponsoring a room in one of our supported accommodation projects, for example, will enable us to bring people off the streets and provide a safe home while we help them to rebuild their lives.
You can also support our campaign to end homelessness and raise the importance of addressing homelessness with your local councillors and MPs.
To read more about the other findings in the health report, including feedback and statistics around people’s experiences in wellbeing, A&E, GP, dentist and optician support, drugs, alcohol, smoking and desired improvements in health support click here.
If you are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless and would like some support, contact one of our services now. You can also attend a free drop-in event on 9 October, which will be attended by Caritas services and a range of other local organisations who can help with health and wellbeing support. Find out more by clicking here.
