Preventing homelessness
Southdown delivers the West Sussex Signpost services in Horsham and Mid Sussex, and Worthing and Adur, through partnership with the District Councils and Supporting People.
Signpost offers a range of assistance to anyone over the age of 16 to help them prevent the loss of their home or to access suitable housing. Applicants can be in any type of accommodation and can contact us directly or be referred by another agency.
Applicants are assisted to explore the options available to help them resolve their housing related problems. Depending upon the level of difficulty the applicant is facing and any vulnerability, the teams can provide telephone advice and guidance, signpost onto specialist advice agencies, offer short-term practical support, or refer applicants onto specialist support services.
People have accessed all sorts of help and advice around issues such as rent and mortgage arrears, anti-social behaviour problems, finding housing, dealing with debts, claiming benefits, and accessing health and community care services.
Our work is an integral part of the Local Authorities’ homeless prevention strategies and has a significant impact on reducing the number of people at risk of homelessness, as well as supporting people placed in temporary accommodation to maintain their tenancies and move on to permanent accommodation. The proactive and flexible nature of the support enables us to work quickly with applicants including those in crisis, and over 1800 applicants have been successfully supported since July 2007.
Please click here to Contact us for further information and to make a referral.
To read a copy of the Signpost Spring 2010 newsletter, please click here.
Personal Story of a Signpost Service User
When Jill was referred to the Signpost Service, she had just turned 17. She had some mental health problems which made her very vulnerable and she had until recently been living in private lodgings. When things weren’t working out Jill returned to live with her mother. All acknowledged that this was not the best situation and as her previous attempts to find accommodation with a Housing Association had failed, Signpost was the only option for Jill. However she was determined to change her life around and started to co-operate with the support offered.
Jill is insulin dependent and although initially she had problems keeping appointments, she is now registered with a diabetic nurse. Her support worker got her to agree to see the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service. To assist her they set up a calendar on her mobile phone so that important appointments would not be missed.
Six months on Jill is very proud of her achievements. She has a filing system that is second to none; she opens all letters, actions them, files them and does not ignore phone calls or texts, as she would have previously done. Her enthusiasm is infectious and with the persistence of her support worker an application to a Housing provider has been successful. Jill states:
“I am so grateful for all that Signpost has done for me. I don’t think that I would have survived without support. I am really going to make a go of my life now. It is the first time ever that I feel like a real person”