For many of the people we work with, finding a secure home and sustainable employment represents the final step in their recovery and the key to moving on from homelessness to enjoy a more independent and fulfilling life.
To support as many people as possible with these goals, our employment and Private Rented Sector (PRS) accommodation services work in tandem across our services to enable clients to achieve sustainable employment and accommodation outcomes.
Education, Training and Employment Opportunities (ETE)
Our Achieving Potential programme focuses on offering education, training, volunteering and employment opportunities specifically to people recovering from substance use. Our clients face multiple barriers that put them at a severe disadvantage when trying to find and maintain employment, such as lack of a permanent address, minimal access to opportunities, welfare changes when employed and an offending history, as well as possible discrimination from employers. Through a mix of both group programmes and one to one support, our clients are provided with a range of opportunities to move forwards with their employment goals. Find out more here.
Independent living
The housing crisis and the scarcity of social housing represents a major barrier to achieving sustainable outcomes for vulnerable people. In the private sector, spiralling rents, low-quality accommodation and insecure tenancies, coupled with a reluctance among private sector landlords to let properties to homeless or socially excluded people, mean it can be extremely difficult for our clients to get a foothold in decent and secure accommodation. To address this, we work in partnership with landlords across London to support people into private rented sector accommodation (PRS) and ensure that they can maintain their tenancies.
Our PRS Access officers provide clients with comprehensive pre-tenancy support, equipping them with all the skills and knowledge they need to maintain a tenancy. To ensure a ready supply of properties available to clients, we partner with private landlords, providing bonds and direct payments, acting as a letting agent and helping to minimise void periods.