About Us
Who are we?
To us it’s just a shelter, but to our guests, it’s their home.
Off The Streets first came together as a group of concerned residents who felt that more needed to be done to help rough sleepers. To give them a better chance to move along in their journey, we opened up a night shelter in Beedell Avenue, Westcliff in September 2018. Ever since then, we have worked to help our guests find housing and lead successful lives. After all, any of us could find ourselves homeless at any point. In the past year, we have been awarded the Housing Justice Kitemark at Excellence standard and become a registered charity.
How We Started
I responded to a call out on social media for someone to make sandwiches for the rough sleepers which led to us to being based at one of the winter night churches . We focused on delivering hot food out to the rough sleepers that were still sleeping rough . I remember one evening going out in the snow ,we came across a guy sitting in a door way ,we went over to offer some food and a hot drink he didn’t really want to talk so we said we would be back tomorrow he just looked at us to say yer right Ive heard it all before ! But we really did mean it! We went back the same time each day for 5 days , we began to build up a little bit of trust with this guy and he had even started to talk to us . I explained to him I was helping at the winter night church later that evening and told him where the church was and he was welcome to come along and stay the night in the warm .
This is when it shows that trust means a lot as later that night when I was at the winter night church the guy on reception said there is a man asking for me at the door! It was him! I remember the feeling I felt proud that I had stuck with him and built up his trust he stayed at the church that night.
After helping at various churches it came to my last shift as the winter night churches shut in the morning . Seeing 25 plus people worried about what to do now.. I asked so what happens now ? the reply I got was that the churches don’t re open till next year . In my head I couldn’t believe this and this didn’t sit right with me yes the weather was warmer but these people needed more help… there was a gap and I hoped we could help . This is where our journey started . It was a challenge but for every obstacle we faced there was another hurdle that we crossed. We did it ….
Our Vision
Enabling and empowering rough sleepers in Southend on their journey to independent living by providing a home and a family unit who believe, care and listen.
Our Values
LISTEN
We listen to every individuals story
TIME
We believe time is one of the most priceless things our team can offer
PURPOSE
Helping our guests find their purpose is one of many steps we help with along there journey
INCLUSIVENESS
We respect people, value diversity, and are committed to equality
INTEGRITY
We are open, honest, and fair
STABILITY
We help our guests to achieve calm and stable lives
DIGNITY
We uphold the dignity of every individual we work with and treat everyone how we would expect to be treated with respect
INSPIRATION
We believe we help inspire others to change and prevent homelessness
HOME
Everyone deserves a place to call home and to be a part of our guests journey and see them reach their goals is priceless
INDIVIDUAL
We treat everyone as an individual, Everyone has a story and they all have different chapters
Key Facts
At least 449 people died while homeless since October 2017.
69% of those who died were men and 21% were women (the gender was not established in the remaining 10% of cases).
65 died rough sleeping.
JANUARY was the worst month for deaths, With 33 people losing their lives.
258 overall died were recorded in England and Wales, with 109 of those occurring in London alone. In Scotland, 42 deaths were recorded.
Some Of The Causes Of Homelessness
• Mental health issues
• Fleeing domestic violence
• Drug and alcohol misuse
• Finance problems
• Relationship breakdown
• Sexuality
• Unemployment
Prevention
Part of what we do is help to prevent someone becoming homeless we work with different agencies to try and put things in place and help before any individual becomes homeless
