Motivating Tenants
Homelessness is so much more than Housing! It seems obvious but this is very often overlooked. We think someone has somewhere to live and therefore they are OK. But the issues which lead them to become homeless need to be carefully and sensitively addressed as they reassemble their lives and become stable and independent again.
In our Support Plans we help them to identify where they are now and where they would like to be in one year, two years and five years time. Encouragement is very important as many struggle with low self esteem and depression brought on by their homelessness and the despair of their situation. It’s important to help them see they are moving forward, pointing out that they are much better off than they were, for instance, a year ago.
We help them to decide what they want to achieve? It is hard for all of us to succeed at something that doesn’t really interest us or which we don’t feel is important. We must identify what drives them and then set small, short term goals. Its important not to set them up to fail – the goals must be achievable!
One example is a tenant who has lost a lot confidence in his social skills. In a recent support session I suggested he visited the Methodist Coffee Shop in New Malden High Street, buy a pot of tea for 60 pence and take his own sandwich (which is encouraged as they don’t sell food) - and then get chatting to different people. I encouraged him to listen rather than talk – asking the person questions about themselves - everyone likes to talk about themselves. This will build his confidence, provide him with interview skills and doubtless he will make friends. A simple and achievable goal.
Getting them involved: One thing many find difficult is motivation. We try to get them involved in interesting activities. Recently we cleared rubbish from a house and organised a “cleaning day” because the house was very grubby. The tenants are now taking a real pride in the place – they’ve put up Christmas decorations and are undertaking small maintenance jobs on their own initiative. A big change!
We are in the process of setting up a Tenant Panel. We’re encouraging tenants to participate in KCAH policy setting. Helping us to identify areas where we can improve our services. Tenants have a very different perspective so we are optimistic that this will motivate tenants to take responsibility and initiative.
Some of our tenants are very happy to come and help in the office. Either with stuffing envelopes or organising donated food. I often encourage an enthusiastic tenant to bring a less enthusiastic tenant along with them and the enthusiasm rubs off!
Last week the Supporting People team held a “User Involvement Forum” in Kingston. We were successful in getting 14 tenants to sign up for this. Some even offered to help with catering which went down well. This was excellent for our image with Supporting People.
Jan Ganney
Housing and Support Worker
