Resettlement Work at the Shelter
 

Why do we do it?

The Night Shelter has always aimed to resettle residents because our role is to be a stepping stone to a more permanent home as it is stated in our constitution.

Over the years this work has become more complex and much more time consuming. This because there has been an increasing demand for rented accommodation and because the residents we see now have more complex needs and more difficult housing histories.

There are many different kinds of housing available in Colchester and elsewhere and to be successful in finding the right place to live it is no longer enough to give people the news paper, point to the accommodation pages and give then access to the telephone.

Today our resettlement worker has the difficult and delicate task of finding the most suitable type of housing to match the individual resident’s needs. This is not just to make sure that the residents will be seen and interviewed by the housing project but more importantly so that the resident is likely to be better able to sustain their new accommodation.

We work with both supported accommodation projects, private providers and specialist schemes. We work with local authorities both here in Colchester and also elsewhere in the country.


How does it work?

Our dedicated resettlement worker, Alistair, works full time at the Night Shelter working with residents and to take some details of their needs and their history.

He may see them again to fill in specific application forms and also to talk to agencies and housing projects that have known them before or may be suitable to take them on.

In this way we can get a fuller picture of what the resident’s needs are and what may have caused problems in the past. This helps to get a clearer picture of what the residents needs to do and what kind of housing project will offer the best kind of support for that person.

In the past three years we have succeeded in re-housing between 50 % and 62% of the people who stay with us. Some times they have had to stay here for much longer than the 28 nights that are normally allowed. But so long as they work with us that is OK.