What would you do if you suddenly didn’t have a home? Where would you go for help and support? Family? Friends? And what would you do if that help wasn’t there? When people can no longer rely on family and friends, The Ark is often the last port of call when a person is in crisis.
Our committed and dedicated team is managing a huge range of factors in people’s complex situations. With the spotlight on our manager Rose, this is the first blog in a series in which we are sharing our daily activities with the public and our supporters – to give you a sneak peek at what we do and who are clients are. And what they may have faced in their lives.
The Ark team are often dealing with our clients’ complex needs. These are due to difficult personal experiences, such as family breakdown, negative care experience, alcohol and substance abuse. Often, it’s a combination of factors. Each blog will help readers get a bit closer to the challenges of The Ark, our clients, staff, volunteers, partners and trustees.
We hope by sharing our work, and the challenges faced by the people who use and provide our services, there will be greater understanding of the issues around homelessness and why people are vulnerable in our community.
Our manager, Rose, says: “Our staff are excellent at dealing with challenging client behaviors. It’s vital that we are because The Ark’s activities can help create a better community for us all.
“Our clients experience homelessness due to a range of dynamics, such as family breakdown, sexual and mental abuse or addiction. Mental health is currently the biggest issue we deal with because many clients have undiagnosed conditions.
“We observe clients with paranoia, hearing voices and split personalities. We often see a deterioration in their behaviour and demeanor. When they first come to The Ark, they don’t let their guard down and with more familiarity, they relax into themselves and open up. We are dealing with people on a variety of different spectrums. They have been coping with these issues all their lives. Often with little family or medical support.”
How Does The Ark Support?
“We put a blanket of care around our clients. We provide a safe and homely environment with support that they get nowhere else.”
Our work includes:
Giving dignity to people, we ensure all basic needs are met, providing food, washing, and laundry facilities.
We help develop life skills such as literacy, budgeting and cooking nutritious meals.
Once needs have been assessed, we refer to our partners providing services, such as housing, health, and our mental health nursing team, ensuring clients are getting the right support for their needs.
Through a range of activities, we encourage personal development and build self-esteem, enabling a person to take steps to make positive changes in their life.
GP Funding Needed
Rose continues: “This system works. Though we can’t guarantee how long the process of referral will take. But we no longer have essential funding for a GP. We did have a GP for a morning once a week and this was a regular slot for physical and mental health issues.
"The vital once-a-week GP clinic ensured physical conditions such as hepatis, cancer and trench foot, and mental health issues were identified early. Clients could be treated and managed appropriately to prevent deterioration and a further cost to care services," says Rose.
"While we couldn't guarantee how long the process of referral would take, at least people were in the system, and we could support them to stay in the system. People kept appointments and we managed conditions while they are waiting for the referral service; in doing so, we are preventing people from presenting at A&E when their condition has deteriorated to crisis point. In the long-term, we estimate we saved the NHS an average of £12k per person.
“We have to apply again to Shropshire Council via its Rough Sleeper fund for this funding. The GP service costs £30k/£40k to reinstate, and currently, we understand there is no funding available for this service. As we are supporting 30 people, if we have an in-house GP service, we are potentially saving the NHS well over £300,000 in the long-term.”
Dealing With Unwanted Behaviour
Rose says: “We operate on a referral basis, and we accept referrals from an agency or self-referral, however, people who want our support must sign a contract with The Ark and that generally sorts any unwanted behaviour. A certain code of conduct is expected from clients and staff and we exclude/ban anyone who doesn’t comply.
Rose’s Magic Wand (if she had one)
· I wish we had 24-hour support for our clients because there is a need for that. The emergency accommodation that is available doesn’t meet everyone’s needs. I’d create a night shelter or work together with Shropshire Council to create night accommodation that works together with The Ark’s daytime ethos.
· Separate male and female accommodation, located close to The Ark
· Separate day and night support, to provide 24-hour care and support
· We would be able to keep a closer eye on people and support as needed
· I’d shorten the time that it takes to action drugs and alcohol addiction issues. Unfortunately, there are a lot of stringent conditions and requirements currently in place; this means it takes longer for a person to access the support they need. By which time, the person can no longer cope and is no longer engaging with support services.
· If someone is ready to go to detox, that’s 90% of the battle
· I’d lose the stringent conditions and requirements currently in place
· As soon as someone has made the decision to detox, help them to do it
· I’d work with the council to develop a person-centred approach.
We pride ourselves on our person-centred care. Each person who comes through our doors has had different life experiences and they need tailored support.
Thank You
A HUGE thank you to everyone who support us! We are currently supporting 30 people in our community and are at capacity. We never charge for our services. We don't receive any government funding and are reliant on grants and your support. Everything we do to support vulnerable people in our community is because of your generosity.
Whether it is donating financially or supporting us in other ways, elevate yourself to being an Ark Angel this Christmas, and help us bring some Christmas cheer to homeless and vulnerable people in our community.
If you are looking for a volunteer role, either at the day centre or at our shop, get in touch.
And please do spread the word - follow us on social media: we’re active on X (formally known as Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.