Great Place's Chief Executive Matt Harrison went out with the Housing First Delivery team and as luck would have it the team need an additional pair of hands to help with one of our people moving into his home.
Matt said: "I was lucky enough to be involved with a ‘move-in’ on Friday. When we arrived at the property, John*, was waiting patiently outside the flat. The van soon arrived and Housing First Workers, Martyn and James (with a bit of help from me) got a bed and an armchair moved in for him.
"It was great to see that John clearly had great trust in the team to get him moved in and settled. His stories from the hostel where he’d been staying were harrowing – so much so that he’d discharged himself in fear.
"Nevertheless, he’d stuck with the Housing First team and was clearly very grateful for the support he’d received from Sam in particular.
"Seeing someone so clearly vulnerable moving into a place of safety, with their own front door and somewhere clean to sleep was a great experience for me. The commitment of colleagues to make this work for John was fantastic to see and he genuinely appreciated what people were doing for him.
"Housing First will make a massive difference to people’s lives and seeing it ‘live’ like this at the ‘move-in ‘ stage of the process was really interesting. John still has a long way to go on his journey to a sustainable tenancy but getting a roof over his head in a safe space is a great start."
* name changed.