How to … Help homeless people form relationships

Relationships are bulwarks against being broke, homeless, without a job, lonely or sick. But vulnerable people's relationships are often disrupted, not just because they've been homeless or have lived in institutions for a long time: living in supported housing and getting permanently resettled can, paradoxically, also be disruptive. Frequent moves can mean losing contact with old friends or family as well as friends made more recently in hostels and day centres – where bonds can be strong through being forged in difficult times.

But homeless and vulnerable people are not necessarily friendless. For most, the strongest bonds are with family. Even when parents and children fall out, relationships with grandparents and adult siblings can be strong and sustaining. People stay in touch despite their disrupted lives – but help and support could make it easier for them to do so.

Research
With funding from the Ashden Trust, Lemos & Crane has done research with service users and staff from Thames Reach Bondway, St Basil's and Alone in London to explore homeless people's social networks. Staff interviewed and worked with homeless people from different backgrounds over six months.

The research found that homeless and vulnerable people:

• value relationships with family and old friends
  
• keep in touch with old friends and relatives like grandparents and siblings
  
• feel the loss of broken relationships
  
• want to re-establish broken ties or make new friends
  
• value the support of staff in meeting people, re-establishing old contacts, breaking bad habits, leaving behind bad company and engaging in social activities.

Lemos & Crane has developed a toolkit alongside a report on the research, Dreams Deferred, to help workers give this support. It guides staff through the process of answering the following questions for clients:

• Who do you spend your free time with, or turn to for help?
  
• Who's most important in your life?
  
• Who do you see most often?
  
• What are your aspirations for your relationships with friends and family members?
  
• How strong is your motivation to get in touch with old friends and family members, make new friends, and take up interests and hobbies?
  
• How would these relationships and activities reward you?
  
• What do you need to do to re-establish old contacts, make new friends or start new activities?
  
• What would these new activities be?
  
• What's your action plan?
  
• When are you going to review the action you've taken?

Support staff in supported housing and day centres can help homeless and vulnerable people with all these questions, but for many people more help will be needed than support staff can provide – perhaps dedicated services such as family mediation, befriending, mentoring and counselling.

Services
Many of these services exist but homeless people can't be referred to them. A network of services should be built and arrangements put in place to allow referrals to be made.

And it's not just homeless people who need support in building and rebuilding social networks. People with mental health problems, young people leaving care, ex-offenders and people with problems with drugs and alcohol are also likely to be isolated and in need of support.