Homelessness In Our City – How You Can Help

Homelessness, Living on the Streets, Rough Sleeping and Hardship is unfortunately very common in our city today.
The image on the left gives a cheery front to these problems, but for those who suffer from them it is not funny at all!
You can help.     

At the recent AGM /Public Meeting of the City Centre Neighbourhood Forum there was a very informative session on the management of homelessness in the city centre. For your interest and reference, below are descriptions and links for the organisations discussed at the meeting.

STREETTEAM

“Our Street Intervention Team is a multi-agency, multi-disciplinary approach to addressing rough sleeping and street ASB in Birmingham.”

Their Twitter account can be viewed by clicking https://twitter.com/StreetTeamBham.

STREETLINK

StreetLink exists to help end rough sleeping by enabling members of the public to connect people who are sleeping rough with the local services that can support them.

 

Below in blue font are extracts  from the Streetlink website :

How does it work?

“If you are concerned about someone sleeping rough in England or Wales, you can use this website to send an alert to StreetLink.
The details you provide are sent to the local authority or outreach service for the area in which you have seen the person, to help them find the individual and connect them to support.

“We ask you to provide the following information:

1) A specific location for the rough sleeping site. You can do this by using a map to pinpoint the exact location and then providing a written description of the location.

2) Details of the time that the rough sleeper has been seen at the location.

3) Any information about the rough sleeper that will help find them (gender, approximate age, what the person looks like, what they are wearing).

“You will receive details of the action the local authority normally takes when they are told someone is sleeping rough in their area and an update on what has happened as a result of your alert within 10 working days if you have requested it.“

The FAQs page of the website gives very useful information succinctly and all in one place. Click here to view.

You can contact StreetLink by phoning 0300 500 0914, using the mobile app StreetLink, or via their website streetlink.force.com.

You will, I’m afraid, have to go through a simple one-off registration process before you can send an alert.
Click here to register on the website or use the mobile app.

CHANGE INTO ACTION

This organisation is acting as a collector of public donations to help the people who are sleeping rough.

You don’t donate your loose change as the name might suggest. You actually donate by card or PayPal.

Their donation page states:

“Your donation will personally benefit a person sleeping rough. Trusted local charities and street teams will help rough sleepers to identify those things that can really make a change to their personal circumstances, they will then receive and make use of those funds.

All donations are processed through Just Giving and held by BVSC [Birmingham Voluntary Service Council] before being assigned to individual needs.”

To find out what BVSC does click here.

To find out about Just Giving click here.

FURTHER INFORMATION ON HOMELESSNESs

‘Homelessness – The Big Issue”

Is a Blog Post written in 2016 by Inspector G Morris WMP.
Click here to view.

Homeless Rooms Birmingham

“This site matches empty rooms in supported accommodation flats and houses to homeless people and sofa surfers who need rooms.”

Click here to find out about the website.

The City Council has also published an article on this entitled:

“Website helping homeless people to make the right move” .

Click here to view this.

Ladywood Living With Hardship Initiative.

This has been formed by Ladywood Ward’s city councillors Albert Bore and Kath Hartley.
They are supported by local community focused organisations – police, Trident Housing, Midland Heart, Suited for Success, Ladywood Furniture Project, Credit Union and the Ladywood Project.

It targets Ladywood residents and the people living rough or in severe hardship there.

The “councillors decided to target our £48,000 Local Innovation Fund grant at tackling the problem of rough-living and severe hardship.”

The Councillors are  “using the £48,000 to start up the ‘Ladywood Alternative Giving Fund’ and aim to attract more funding to help get people off the streets and to prevent local people from ending up there.”

Article by Geoff Caine