Stories – Paul – Shiloh Rotherham

People can find themselves facing homelessness and in need of support from Shiloh for a range of reasons. It may be an issue with their accommodation, with their mental or physical health, past trauma, addiction, or sometimes a combination of all of these.

Paul came to Shiloh looking for help after sleeping rough on and off for about a year. Temperatures were below freezing at one point, which caused his physical and mental health to further deteriorate. Paul had ongoing health issues and a lack of available support to help him find and maintain a tenancy.

“I can’t remember how many times I have moved in the last few years but it will be great to spend Christmas in my own home.”

We initially supported Paul with hot showers, food, clothing and a safe place to come to any time he wanted further help or advice. We built up a good trusting relationship with Paul and were able to help him overcome some barriers with his previous tenancy that were affecting his housing future. After this, we were the able to support Paul to access supported accommodation, to provide him with a stepping stone towards where he wanted to be longer term. Sadly this accommodation only lasted a few months before his health deteriorated significantly and he had to be hospitalised.

Now living with a long-term limiting health condition, Paul couldn’t be discharged to his accommodation as it was no longer suitable. Our staff team worked closely with Rotherham Council to ensure he was discharged somewhere more appropriate, which initially meant temporary accommodation (different hotels and then a community flat). From there we were able to support him and put things in place so he could secure a longer term home.

Paul continued to engage well and attended Shiloh regularly to access help and advice through our drop-in sessions and received 1:1 support from our staff. After months of being in/out of temporary accommodation we were finally able to find him a new permanent home where he would be safe, have neighbours of a similar age and had help available at the pull of cord! We provided financial assistance and a home start pack to ensure Paul’s new tenancy got off to a good start and even provided new carpets for his flat. Paul was understandably delighted to finally be in a home of his own and he can now concentrate on managing his health in a stable environment.

The timing of Paul’s final move, meant that he got to spend Christmas feeling safe, warm and in his own home – something many of us often take for granted!

/ Back to Stories

_________________

Shiloh is more than just a place to come for food and basic needs. Our staff and volunteers are on hand to support people towards independent living. We have a number of different support agencies based at our building, which makes it easier to quickly resolve issues.

Please consider supporting our Homeless at Christmas appeal so that we can continue to offer services to help people like Paul