Housing

Significant numbers of people experiencing severe mental illness are living in inappropriate housing. Our aim is to be a provider of safe, high quality homes for those who need them.

A decent home is a crucial foundation for recovery. It gives people a sense of security which can be a major factor in building the self-confidence needed to develop social skills and become more involved in community activities. Levels of support vary depending on the particular service, but our aim remains the same - to provide the amount of support needed to both maintain each individual’s current level of independence and to pave the way to greater independence and recovery at his or her own pace.

Our support workers help those using these services with daily living and social skills as well as helping to provide access to social activities, further education, and employment and training opportunities. And we actively encourage the fullest involvement of people who use our housing services in all aspects of our work, from initial planning through to day-to-day management.

Housing services

Our housing services include:

• intensive 24 hour supported housing
• medium and low level supported housing
• individual floating support
• Accommodation Plus
• supported housing specifically for the African Caribbean community

Intensive 24 hour supported housing

Intensive 24 hour supported housing is designed for people living in residential homes who do not need such a high level of care, people in in-patient units and those who live independently but are struggling to cope alone. Our recovery ethos seeks to shift the perception of these people from ‘patients’ to ‘tenants’, within a high-support housing project.

Medium and low level supported housing

Medium and low level supported housing provides flexible one-to-one support, with the aim of enabling the tenants to move on to more independent housing within two years. A small team of staff support them, with the onus firmly on the tenants to identify their own needs during regular meetings with staff and agree a personal support plan.

Individual floating support

Individual floating support provides support to individuals in their homes on a planned and regular basis for a period of up to two years, using our stepped recovery approach and working positively towards each person’s goals. It also offers one-to-one contact where isolation might otherwise precipitate a downwards spiral and can prove invaluable in keeping people positive.

Accommodation Plus

Accommodation Plus recruits and trains private sector landlords to provide accommodation and support to tenants who have mental health needs locally in their own communities.

Supported housing helps improve the health, well-being and quality of life of people with severe mental illness and assists their move towards recovery and reintegration within the wider community. It also helps to challenge stereotypes and encourages social inclusion by showing that living close to those with severe mental illness doesn’t result in harm or violence to people in the local community.

What people say about our housing services

In a survey of people that use our services carried out by our Research Team, 91 per cent of people using our supported housing services rate the support they receive as excellent, very good or good.