Del Thomas Email & Phone Number

`Can you help me get a mortgage? `This was a question we were asked a couple of weeks ago by an ex-guest who stayed with us 4 years ago. I first met him on the streets 13 years ago and 6 years ago he was in floods of tears saying he couldn’t imagine himself being housed as he was too used to being on the street. I was worried he would die on the street as he had a few bleeds on the brain and he was told by a doctor that if he bumped his head once more, he would likely die. He was a 6 ft2 man who was sleeping in a disabled toilet! He became one of our guests and as well as accommodation we helped him get a job. Over the past 4 years he has got promotion after promotion (he can speak 8 languages!) and is now in a position to get a mortgage. This is just one of the stories our ex-guests have told us.Off the Streets is a grassroot group of local residents who wanted to do something about the number of rough sleepers in Southend. In 2018 Southend was the 8th highest town in the UK for the number of rough sleepersOff the Streets started in September 2018 and in the two years it was open helped 119 rough sleepers find permanent accommodation. The average length of stay was 21 nights. In 2019, Off The Streets was awarded the Excellence Standard in the Housing Justice kitemark which is the highest possible to achieve. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, the night shelter had to closeOff the Streets has recently secured the funding to buy a 7-bed seaside hotel which will become an enhanced night shelter for up to 9 people at any one time. they will accept couples and the ground floor bedroom has been adapted to enable its use by disabled people.Off the Streets also follows up to support the guests while they adapt to a permanent home, which for some can be very challenging.The new enhanced night shelter will support an estimated 176 rough sleepers every year to move from the streets into permanent accommodation. This includes couples (rarely catered for) and disabled homeless people (very rarely catered for). The new enhanced night shelter is nearly ready to be opened. We just need to complete the refurbishment (for example, adapting the ground floor room into an en-suite room for disabled people) and also building a multipurpose room which will be used for keywork and also have external agencies such as mental health support come in to work with our guests. We plan on opening the building in June 2023 depending on the building works. Contact me to find out how you can be involved in our community!

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  Charity Development Officer

  Off The Streets

  Dec 2022 - Present - Southend-On-Sea, England, United Kingdom