crescer. org deregenboog. org
CRESCER’ s É UMA CASA housing-first project began in January 2013 in the Mouraria district of Lisbon, and the results were so impressive that the project now encompasses the entire city. Around 30 per cent of CRESCER staff are people with lived experience, and peer workers are involved in every project it delivers.
De Kloof drop-in centre is the oldest drop-in centre for the homeless in Amsterdam, managed by The Regenboog Group. It serves as a vital day shelter in the city centre.
‘ Social inclusion is not a reward at the end of the journey. It is what makes change possible.’
ELIZA KURCEVIČ-RAMONĖ
phenomenon. The aim was to understand the role it played in that person’ s life without moral judgement, and ultimately to co-create realistic alternative pathways aligned with the person’ s goals, capacities and circumstances.‘ Change isn’ t imposed, it’ s built collaboratively,’ she said.‘ We’ re not just talking about providing a roof here, we’ re talking about security, autonomy, privacy and the sense of ownership’ that came with having a home.
‘ Our mission is to be there for everyone who’ s struggling and has nowhere else to turn’ said Els van Koeverden of De Regenboog Groep, an Amsterdam-based organisation that supported people facing marginalisation by providing low-threshold, harmreduction based services. The organisation had around 400 employees and 1,500 volunteers, and operated day shelters, dropin centres, consumption rooms and street-sweeping teams alongside restaurants and cafes, offering more than 350 paid work reintegration places.
‘ We try to offer opportunities in places near where people are, and participation is unconditional,’ she said.‘ People are always welcome regardless of mental health problems, drug or alcohol use or housing situations’, and the organisation also did its best to offer a genuinely diverse range of work.‘ Wherever someone is in his or her life, we try to offer something that fits’. The focus was on the positives, she said.‘ It’ s a progress-oriented approach, looking at what
WE CAN WORK IT OUT
SDF’ s national traineeship is designed help people prepare for employment through a combination of supported learning and inwork placements over a nine-month period. Ninety per cent of participants complete the traineeship, with 85 per cent of graduates securing employment – most commonly in the drug, alcohol and wider social care sectors.
‘ When I first heard about the national traineeship, I was volunteering with a service,’ says Mary *, a recent graduate.‘ My mentor there mentioned it, thinking it might be a good fit for me. That same day I went home and applied.’
Mary’ s confidence was low at the start, she says.‘ I told myself I’ ll give this a go, but deep down I wasn’ t sure I had what it took. The interview process was another hurdle – I’ d never done one before. Thankfully I got a lot of support, and when I got the call saying I’ d been successful, I was over the moon.’
Starting the course was‘ amazing, but also a bit overwhelming,’ she says.‘ I didn’ t even know how to turn a laptop on at first. My SDF
‘ I didn’ t even know how to turn a laptop on at first. My SDF coordinator helped me every step of the way.’
coordinator helped me every step of the way – by the end, I’ d become a dab hand with the laptop. I’ m always telling people they should apply for this programme, it’ s been such a gamechanger for me.’
The traineeship combines structured training with hands-on placements, as trainees work towards gaining their SVQ2 in social services and healthcare.‘ I completed so many courses and earned loads of certificates, which have been so useful when applying for jobs,’ she says.‘ I also absolutely loved my placement. It gave me the chance to put what I’ d learned into practice. Every day, I had something new to write about for my SVQ. The staff and my mentor were so supportive, they made sure I felt capable and confident. I needed things explained a lot at first, but once I sat down, listened and put in the effort, I started to get the hang of it. You can’ t just coast through, you have to want it and work for it.’
By the time she’ d completed the traineeship Mary felt her life had been transformed:‘ It has completely changed my life. It’ s made me more confident, resilient and self-aware, and it’ s helped me feel settled in who I am and how I communicate with others. I talk about it all the time and always suggest it to people. If I could, I’ d do it all over again.’
* Not her real name
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