Write one thing you found interesting from our recent Webinar!

Thank you for a great webinar. I was interested in the Housing First Principles, and was struck by the similarities to the Signs of Safety model of working, that is adopted by various Children's Services, when supporting young people. There were many many similarities in the two approaches when supporting vulnerable young people that have experienced trauma in some form. Such as, firstly, relationship based practice, person centered work, where the young person is central to all decisions, flexible holistic support, (thinking "outside the box", as previous interventions often have not been successful) drawing together many support agencies and organizations, to build sustainable change. A strength based approach, improved access to all services, especially mental health services, and great importance placed on allowing time to build a trusting relationship with the young people , to best understand their needs and enable positive change, moving forward. Thank you every one, I look forward to the next meeting.

Thinking about what Housing First looks like in other countries, some might find this an interesting read: https://ighomelessness.org/housing-first-in-international-contexts-what-weve-learned/

Hi all,

Thanks for a great webinar!

Another point I found interesting was the challenges of working with migrant communities. For example, Siraz explained how many of the people MHT work with have migrated from rural areas in search of work, and are looking to stay for a few years rather than settle down permanently. This reminded me of some previous research into Housing First and migration, looking at the challenges of ensuring that undocumented workers were picked up in the Housing First system (e.g. https://ysaatio.fi/assets/files/2018/01/A_Home_of_Your_Own_lowres_spreads.pdf).

Adam

It was interesting to learn about principles of the Housing First model and the similarities and differences with other housing models. Housing for homeless is very complex issue and we will need bouquet of solutions in our hand so that most relevant solution can be applied. Great learning! Thanks Comic Relief team for organizing this event.

An obvious one from me but a clear link between everyone's work is the importance of building a trusting relationship: Siraz said it can take 6-8 months, Thobe spoke about young people staying with I Care for up to three years, and I loved the "baton of trust" that Alex spoke about - the way Housing First workers model a trusting, reliable relationship which people can then take forward in their own life.

Look forward to reading others' thoughts - feel free to post questions for Thobe, Siraz and Alex here to continue the conversation. (For Comic Relief funded partners not currently registered on this site, find out how here - and then you can get posting.)

Thanks to our speakers, Siraz from Mahila Housing Sewa Trust, Thobe from I Care, and Alex from Homeless Link.