Resonance’s National Homelessness Property Fund 2 (NHPF2) is working with twelve expert housing partners across the UK to not only provide people experiencing homelessness with a decent home to live in, but ensuring tenants have access to specialist support services to enable them to feel settled, put down roots in their local community and start to make positive plans for their futures.

One of the fund’s housing partners is Oxfordshire based mental health and housing charity, Response. It provides a person-centred, recovery-focused programme for people with mental health and complex needs, enabling them to live independently within their local community. The charity is also playing a pivotal role in the Settled Oxfordshire project that is providing a housing-led approach for people experiencing homelessness and rough sleeping in the county.

One of Settled Oxfordshire’s Homeless Support Workers at Response is Correll Scott.

We recently caught up with Correll to find out a little more about her role and the work she does in supporting tenants in the lead up and once they have moved into one of the fund’s properties.

Q: Hi Correll, thanks for your time today, it would be great to know a little about your role at Response.

Correll:  My pleasure, thank you for having me. So, I am a homeless support worker within Settled Oxfordshire, for Response. Settled Oxfordshire is a new service working in partnership with Oxford City Council, supporting people who are homeless or facing homelessness. I assess clients who have been referred to us from Oxford City Council’s Homeless Register. The assessment allows us to get a deeper understanding of each person’s current situation and their needs going forward. Assessment is a key part of deciding if they are the right fit for our service or if they would benefit from another service that better matches their needs (in which case we refer them on).

Once accepted by Settled Oxfordshire, each client is matched with a support worker within our team. My role as a support worker is so varied. I support clients in so many ways to ensure they have access to all the support services they might need. This includes support for mental and physical health, substance misuse and trauma recovery as well as helping them to settle into their home and community, and to start building a social network around them. I also support clients with their tenancies and finances - from setting up utility bills, budgeting, maximising benefits, managing repayments of existing debts and more. I also help identify any training or education needs my clients may have.

Initially, once a client first moves into their home there is a lot more, intense support around them and I will see them regularly with at least one face-to-face key work session a week. As clients settle into their homes and their lives start becoming more stable, face-to-face support might switch to fortnightly, but this is flexible with no one-size-fits-all. The support needed really does depend on the needs of each client.

The service we offer is person centred, putting our clients first, addressing their needs and making them the narrator of their own story.

Q: And so how did you end up working in the support and homelessness sector?

Correll: My background is diverse; I began my career in the corporate business world working for major organisations like British Gas, BT and Conde Nast. After losing my father, I had bereavement counselling, and it really changed my outlook on life. So much so that I started to study counselling and psychotherapy for the following five years, on a part time basis. The qualification I gained opened a new world to me. I wanted to change direction and work with people that were experiencing difficulties in their lives and needed help and so I started a new career in the mental health and care services sector.

I have previously worked as a therapist for a hospice and for a children’s charity offering therapy to primary school children on the at-risk register. I have also worked as a training facilitator delivering parenting programmes for adults who had lost custody of their children due to substance misuse.

After the breakdown of my marriage, me and my children faced homelessness and had to go through the very same process my clients do. Luckily, I had family around me who were able to support us, and I found private accommodation. Knowing what it feels like, first hand, is key for me in relating to my clients. I want to help others, to be that support that is so needed during a really traumatic time in their lives. This role gives me a really deep sense of achievement and fulfilment. I feel very proud to work for Response.

Q: Can you tell us a little bit about the people on social housing waiting lists and experiencing homelessness in Oxfordshire?

Correll: The clients we work with have a range of needs and come from all sorts of backgrounds. The one thing they all have in common is an experience of homelessness.

None of them have a permanent home. Many have been, and might still be, sofa surfing, sleeping on the streets or placed in emergency accommodation by the council whilst they are assessed. Each person is unique, and we have a diverse mix of people - races, ages, cultures, and genders – that we house and support. Some of our clients are care leavers, or adults who have lost their home after a breakdown of a relationship, or they can be asylum seekers too.

Initially, they all would have approached Oxford City Council as experiencing homelessness, would have been assessed by a council housing officer and placed in emergency accommodation if available.  The council would then have assessed each person to see if they met their housing criteria. Clients are referred to our services if they meet the Settled Oxfordshire criteria.

Q: Can you explain how you match tenants to homes?

Correll: We look at each person as a whole and to understand what needs they have, whether they have a partner or a pet, what connections they have in the local community around the property’s location and what feels like the best property fit for that client. We always try to match someone to a property where they have already local connection, such as family living there or attending a college course in the area. And if a client has a physical disability, we ensure we are offering them a property with easy, ground floor access.

We offer shared housing as well as one-bed flats. With shared houses in mind, we also look at our clients’ personalities and try to match similar people with the same needs and goals.

Q: How do you determine a tenants’ needs?

Correll: Our service is person-led, and clients are encouraged to determine their own support needs with our support and guidance. We then support clients to try and achieve their goals.  We also liaise with other departments at Response that might have contact with the client, e.g. mental health services, and external agencies, such as Turning Point and Asylum Welcome, in order to maximise the best outcomes for clients.

Every six months we conduct risk assessments and our Recovery Stars scoring programme with clients to check in on their progress. These exercises can help highlight areas a client might need (more) support with and enables us to help them build goals around these areas, so they can continue to make more positive change in their lives.

Q: What sort of support services do you provide for tenants?

Correll: We offer support with a wide range of services from accessing the local council, GP services, community services, local charities, substance misuse services and more. We help  clients with budgeting and accessing volunteering, training and job opportunities. We also support clients to access programmes to support their mental and physical health and help them engage with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Universal Credit (UC) to ensure they can maximise their benefits and working opportunities.

Clients that do not have family or support around them or are feeling lonely, can feel lost so we are there to offer emotional support too.

Q: How do you support and encourage tenants to become independent, to feel empowered?

Correll: We work in an individualised, person-centred way with clients – they take the lead in the key work sessions we offer them. We help them create structure and routine in their lives - our key work sessions are an integral part of that. Every six months we carry out a risk assessment with each client alongside our Recovery Stars programme. Combined, these assessments highlight areas a client might be struggling with or would like more support with. We work together to agree and set SMART goals for the client to work towards. We reflect and build on these goals and adjust them as we go over the following weeks and months.

In all the ways in which we support clients – via our key work sessions, phone calls, emails and texts - we make a point of giving them praise, and encouragement and helping them find space in their lives for reflection and, hopefully, continued growth.

Everything we do is aimed at promoting independence and not creating a dependence on others.

Q: Can you explain what a typical day might look like for you?

Correll: My days are very varied; I plan around my clients’ needs. So, this includes meeting potential clients for an assessment after they’ve been referred to our services; preparing tenancy agreements and all property supporting documents in preparation for a client moving in, and then helping clients physically move their belongings by helping them pack and providing transport to their new home.

I help to kit out the properties Resonance is buying for Response. So, this includes kitchen appliances and bedroom furnishings. I also conduct property checks for damage and fire risks. I help clients to settle into their new home and regularly meet them for key work sessions, including risk assessments.

I also apply for grants on behalf of clients to help them with electronic purchases, clothing and transport costs. I make referrals to food banks and attend GP appointments with clients, including supporting them to access medication. I set up direct debits to cover rental charges and raise jobs with maintenance should any issues arise.

Q: What are some of the challenges tenants might face?

Correll: Some of our clients – those with partners, pets and with mobility issues – can face barriers to accessing decent housing. Many of my clients have a lack of confidence or faith in themselves and in other people, too. They are fearful of judgment and the stigma attached to being homeless. And our clients’ needs can often be complex; each person is unique, facing different challenges.

In my experience, clients can find claiming benefits particularly challenging as often they do not have the right supporting documents to confirm their I.D. etc. Clients can also struggle to engage with services such as accessing a GP, as they may have lost faith in health care services after being let down in the past.

Q: What challenges do you experience in your role in supporting tenants?

Correll: The ultimate challenge in my role is around building a trusting relationship with my clients. And for wanting them to find hope again for the future when life has been hard for so long. That’s where Settled Oxfordshire comes in, we are there to support them on their journey of change for a brighter future.

Q: What difference does having a decent and safe home mean for someone who has been experiencing homelessness and rough sleeping?

Correll: Living in unaffordable, unsafe homes has a massive impact on a person’s mental health. It increases feelings of anxiety, isolation and loneliness. Continued living in these conditions can also lead to serious longstanding health problems.

Feeling safe is the building block to building confidence and feeling settled enough to then pursue your dreams and look forward to the future and a healthier, fulfilled life. I know this from personal experience; I was living in a damp flat with mould, as this was all I could afford. In that moment that was worse for me than having no home.

When we provide someone with a home, somewhere decent and safe to live – in fact before they even move in, when we take them to view a property – I see an instant change in their faces. Giving them a chance to make a choice; to decide if they like the property is empowering for them. And on the day of move-in, you just see a joy in them and a relief that they know they are now somewhere safe and that this home is theirs.

Clients are used to feeling a bit neglected and forgotten, so a home, their own safe space, and support makes such a difference to their lives.

Q: Why is it important that everyone has access to a safe and decent, affordable home?

Correll: Everyone deserves the right to feel safe and not worry about where they will be placing their head at night. But there is a serious shortfall of affordable and safe homes for people, not just in Oxfordshire, but up and down the country. This also affects some of our clients who are working; their salaries wouldn’t even begin to cover the rent they would need to pay in the private rental sector.

In order to achieve things in life – training, education, employment, etc – you can never achieve those things if you don’t have a stable base; shelter, food and to feel safe and secure. A lot of our clients have lost hope for the future because they’ve struggled for so long. So having a secure base where they can feel settled and safe, enables them to start to look to the future and build and grow and have hopes and dreams that so many of them have lost.

Without services like Settled Oxfordshire, more people in this region would fall through the cracks and be at risk of abuse, violence, homelessness and a decline in their mental and physical health.

Q: What do you find most rewarding about your job?

Correll: One of the things I find most rewarding about my job is seeing first-hand, the impact a home and support has on clients’ lives. I think you see an instance change when someone is moved into their new home. Seeing that difference my support makes to them. Seeing a client grow in confidence and independence. Being their cheerleader and celebrating in their successes, is an amazing feeling for me. Seeing them achieve their goals and finding hope again for the future is really rewarding.

Q: What has been your highlight so far since starting in the role?

Correll: It’s hard to think of just one highlight. One that I guess stands out for me is probably a client who was living in emergency council accommodation, a hotel, for three months, with no access to an oven or washing machine. Her mental health had rapidly declined and in her own words she felt ‘hopeless, neglected and dirty’. I made a referral to a local food bank and met with them and explained her situation. I was able to obtain food from them that did not require cooking and that she could eat in the hotel. I continue to support this client and recently picked her up from her hotel with two black bin liners of clothes and took her to a local laundrette where we washed and dried her clothing. Seemingly little things like having food she can easily cook, and clean, washed clothes had such an impact on her wellbeing. She shared that she ‘felt seen and worthy’ and had hope again that ‘with support she can have a future’. Since then, following a successful referral, this client said, as she was being shown around the flat that would become hers, ‘This has changed my life. You have saved my life.’ I am particularly proud of my work with this client.

This is why we come to work.

About National Homelessness Property Funds 2

NHPF2 purchases properties in the heart of local communities, chosen with the fund’s expert housing partners. Properties are refurbished to a high standard including improving their energy efficiency and once refurbished, they are handed over to housing partners to manage tenancies and support tenants.

Stable homes allow tenants to transition from homelessness to becoming part of their community, gaining employment or training, saving for their future and giving them the ability to eventually move on into their own private accommodation.

The fund is currently working with twelve expert housing partners across the UK and is housing over 120 people in over eighty properties, with around 300 properties in its portfolio so far. It has ambition to scale and to purchase around 1,500 homes to provide decent and affordable homes for 16,000 people over the it’s lifetime.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT NATIONAL HOMELESSNESS PROPERTY FUND 2 HERE.