Who got that job?

What's a floating support worker?
When families are offered a tenancy, we work with them and help them get everything sorted out. Some people aren't au fait with how to get the electricity and gas turned on, for instance, so we'd help with that. But we also make sure they know what benefits they're entitled to and that they're getting them. We help them do all the things that a family needs to be able to function.

What was your last job?
I was working in one of the council's hostels for single homeless people. They were vulnerable people from a wide range of backgrounds, and I also did some work with families.

So why move on?
The hostel's going to be closing down. The staff will be moved on to other places, but I saw this job advertised [it was in Housing Today on 26 September] and decided to go for it because I'd enjoyed the family support work in my previous job.

How's it working out?
It's a new team and all our clients are new with a backlog of problems, so it's been really, really busy. It will be a great job … once it's settled down a bit.

The biggest challenge has been sorting out people's rent and housing benefit – lots of them have come to us already in arrears, so we need to be tackling those and meeting tight schedules. There are only so many hours in the day – but we are getting there.

It's very rewarding when someone that's really low turns themselves around. One young girl I've been working with used to slam the phone down when I called, but now she rings me, all excited when something's worked out.

She used to speak really quietly all the time but now she sounds normal. Watching people start to cope and walk down the road of life by themselves is wonderful.

Where will you be in five years' time?
Still doing family support – I wouldn't want to stop working on the frontline. But hopefully I'll know a lot more. I'm only just starting to learn what's out there for everyone.

What the boss says
Paulette Francique, support manager, says: "Pam is a very caring and conscientious person. I think she's enjoying the job – it's not that different from her last job, but she's now in a team environment where she's actually going out into the community. I think she's adapted to it well."