New role for charity as street crisis 'ends'

Crisis, the national charity for single homeless people, whose mission statement since 1994 has been to "end street homelessness" is to reposition itself as a research and development outfit.

Its new approach will focus on piloting innovative approaches to the problems that face newly resettled, former homeless people. It will be looking to work on a consultancy basis for organisations that want to develop new approaches to homelessness.

Speaking exclusively to Housing Today, Crisis chief executive Shaks Ghosh said: "Now rough sleepers are coming off the street, the real challenge starts. That involves behavioural changes, finding ways of engaging them and helping them to make the life changes that will integrate them back into society. We can't abandon the people who are off the street, because life for them is just beginning."

The agency believes that many hostels are now part of a wider problem, because they are not addressing reintegration.

Ghosh said:"Many of them are ghettoes of social exclusion. You've only got to go into some of our hostels to see the real problem is that people are sitting in front of the TV. They are warehoused."

She added: "If a housing association, for example, says 'our hostels have become dead end places, we don't want this any more', we hope we will be able to work with them to pilot new ways in which to help formerly homeless people."

The agency is hoping to extend a befriending service that matches volunteers with resettled homeless people, and is working on a cross borough, supported housing "reintegration" pilot, inspired by the Times Square project in New York.

Despite the change, Ghosh insisted the charity would retain its campaigning focus, and keep its name. Its Christmas shelters would also continue, although with a new focus on reintegrating homeless people back into society.

"The crisis on the street has shifted to a crisis in people's lives," she said.