July 2024, written by Off the Streets Charity
“Can you help me get a mortgage?“
These were the words of an ex-guest who lived on the streets of Southend for 11 years and who was struggling with PTSD. We helped him get help for his mental health and also found him accommodation and a job and he has been promoted several times and is now in a position to buy his first house.
Off the Streets is a local grassroots group who works with rough sleepers to help them achieve successful lives. We firmly believe being homeless doesn’t mean being hopeless and look at celebrities like Halle Berry, Slyvester Stallone and Steve Jobs who were all once homeless and then had a helping hand to succeed in their lives. We are that helping hand. When our guests first attend we ask what they want to achieve and agree `stepping stones` that will lead them to that goal. Even once accommodated we continue our support in these goals.
We have recently purchased a building and the money has gone towards helping us refurbish this. We are very close to finishing and hope to open in the Autumn. Meanwhile we have opened a temporary night shelter at the start of July and are having 7 people sleep in this space. Even though it has been open a week we helped 3 people into accommodation. We will continue to support them.
Our guests come from all backgrounds and ages and a lot of our guests are obviously suffering with depression and sometimes use substances as a self medication. We are working with a young lady who had her baby taken off her because of a situation like this. We helped her get the mental health support she needs and also supported her on her journey to come off drugs and she is now regularly seeing her daughter. Her mental health has improved drastically.
Please read more about Off the Streets via their website.
Leave a Reply