Deena's video transcript

Homelessness Project

For my final project on the NGDP with Basildon District Council, another trainee and myself found ourselves drawn to the homelessness strategy. We knew very little about it, or about the housing service. In fact, that was part of the attraction.

Our brief was simple: to write the 2007 – 2013 homelessness strategy. We didn’t know then that the next six months would open our eyes to a complex – and at times heartbreaking – issue.

Basildon council published its first homelessness strategy in 2003. And we were starting to see the benefits of a focus on prevention.

But we needed to plan for the future. Which is where the new strategy – and my role – came into play.

First, we needed to collect the facts. And to get them from a wide variety of sources. Which meant reading government best practice guidelines, reports and statistics; shadowing the housing service; and organising focus groups with people from the primary care trust, housing associations, the police, the voluntary sector and registered social landlords.

It was like a battle of who understood the issue best.

But everyone was equally passionate about getting to the heart of the problem and finding a way to move forward. And they started to work together.

In fact, there was a renewed commitment to communicate more often and incorporate joint working into the new strategy.

We were getting somewhere. But something was missing.

We hadn’t spoken to the people that use the services first-hand. We felt this was crucial. So we made up a questionnaire. And we took to the streets.

We spoke to lots of people. Some had been rehoused. Some had fled abusive partners. Some had been evicted. Some had their homes repossessed. Some were in temporary accommodation – in limbo and unsure what the future held.

People really opened up to us.

We discovered that one of the main reasons people became unintentionally homeless was being evicted by their parents.

And this could happen for many reasons, but the most common were

• a breakdown in the relationship – usually resulting from pregnancy
• overcrowding
• or a combination of both

Some parents evicted their children on turning 18 and effectively handed them over to the council to house.

Our strategy was to place an emphasis on preventative measures to avoid people becoming homeless in the first place.

Our plan includes greater mediation for families about the options they have for housing and the realities of becoming homeless.

And now it’s in action. It’s really satisfying to know it’s making a difference to the community.

I’m Deena. I was a trainee on the NGDP, I’m now a Principle Organisational Development Adviser. It’s real life. Real work.