Our residents’ physical and mental health is our top priority and we have a dedicated team of staff to ensure they are looked after during their stay here.
Focusing on our residents
Here at CENS we have a team of dedicated support workers. When a new person arrives at CENS they are assigned a support worker who will sit and discuss the needs and challenges they face in in our private counselling room, giving them a safe space to talk in a calm and caring environment.
Men’s Health
“When I found myself on the streets after a relationship breakdown, CENS staff where there to help me find my self-worth and how important I am and that I matter”
Men facing homelessness is on the increase every year and it can have a huge impact on their health. Every single person who faces homelessness have varying degrees of physical and mental health issues. Our aim is to make sure everyone, regardless of their gender, race, religion or background are referred to the right agencies and are supported during the time they stay here.
Physical Health
We encourage our residents to take good care of their physical health with regular exercise such as walking, swimming and cycling. The support team make sure they are registered and seen by a doctor if needed. We also provide a home cooked meal everyday which is prepared and cooked from fresh by our Kitchen Coordinator, Emma. In some instances substance misuse can detrimentally affect their physical health and in these cases we refer to the relevant agencies who will provide the correct treatment to help them overcome these addictions.
The impact of homelessness on mental health
It can not be underestimated how traumatic finding yourself street homeless is. The stigma, shame and sadness people feel when it happens to them can be very overwhelming. We are here to help people realise this can happen to anyone from any walk of life. We want to break the stigma and shame of homelessness as no one should feel alone and scared when faced with such a life changing event. Here at CENS we offer our residents professional counselling with fully trained counsellors through LIFEFORCE. CENS provides the funding for up to 8 sessions at LIFEFORCE for each resident that needs this.
Other specialist agencies
We also work alongside many other professionals who help support our residents from Phoenix Futures for alcohol recovery and Open Road for drug and alcohol recovery. We also direct them to many more agencies such as Mind and Samaritans when dealing with mental health and CARA (centre for action on rape and abuse).
To learn more about CENS and the support we provide please visit our website here
