NEXT STEPS AT CENS

Ensuring our Resident’s Engage for a Positive Move On

Finding more secure accommodation for our resident’s whilst giving them a safe place to sleep and stay off the streets is our ethos. During the day our support workers schedule appointments and interviews for our resident’s with different housing providers in and around Essex and Suffolk.  The move on option is decided once we have ensured our resident’s have engaged and provided all of the information we require from housing history to identification and much more.

What do the resident’s need to do to engage?

Every resident presents with different challenges and can find themselves homeless for many different reasons.  From alcohol addiction or substance misuse issues. It can also be due to a mental health condition and a person has just not had the right support in place.  Most have fallen on hard times and may need help with money management and learning how to cope with a tenancy.  Due to the current housing crisis, we see many more people evicted through no fault of their own and sadly face homelessness.

It is our job to ensure our resident’s get all the support they need in place and to engage with other agencies before we can then make an assessment as to which route to take with housing. 

CENS is also a drug free and alcohol free project and all of our resident’s must take a breath test on every arrival and must blow zero or they are not allowed into the building.  Residents must also take regular drug tests.  

What steps happen in the first week of a resident’s stay?

The first step is to book a support interview after their first week at CENS.  This way we can see what areas they need further support in such as alcohol recovery groups like Phoenix Futures and drug support from Open Road. We also offer in house money management courses with Money Works or other agency/training support.  This is continued on with regular support follow-ups with our residents.   

Once we see a resident is willing to engage we can then make the best choice for the resident’s move on housing option from CENS. 

RESIDENT’S TAKING PART IN A MONEY WORKS TRAINING PROGRAMME TO GAIN A RECOGNISED CERTIFICATE IN MONEY MANAGEMENT

“CENS have really helped me regain my confidence and learn new skills”

What housing options are there?

We work alongside local councils to see if a resident is eligible for the home step scheme to be able to rent a room in a house share property in the local area. 

We also look at supported housing for resident’s who need that extra guidance to continue after leaving CENS. We work alongside many supported housing schemes such as Sanctuary Supported Living and Emmaus.

CENS also work alongside other housing providers outside of the area such as ACT and we always make sure it is the right decision for the resident. 

Sadly, due to the cost of private rental properties and the rise year on year in rent prices, it is mostly impossible to get your own flat when on a low income and most resident’s from CENS have to move into house share accommodation. 

Positive Vibes and Outcomes!

Even though we face a housing crisis it is our mission to make our resident’s have somewhere to call home and to feel safe and positive about the future.  Once they have a safe place to call home they can start the building blocks again towards a brighter future from re-training to finding work or even making new friendships in a house share. 

Having a roof over your head is something we all deserve and seeing our resident’s move on into more secure accommodation is very rewarding.  Giving someone confidence in their own ability to strive and to still be involved with outside agencies as they continue their journey is very important to.

We are proud to have achieved 57 positive moves on’s out of 88 resident admissions in the last year alone and we continue to work hard with resident’s who engage well to their next steps from CENS!

Here are some of our wonderful resident’s we have helped in the last year.