Roots to Resilience Housing Project

Aim

We want to establish strong foundations for individuals and families, enabling them to withstand financial challenges and avoid homelessness

Helping people keep their homes

We want to be able to provide support for families and individuals who are at risk of homelessness. We will provide a one-stop support service offering housing and financial advice. Through our intensive support, we aim to address the root cause of issues that can lead to homelessness, whilst building financial resilience and security for the future.

We are an independent charity providing free advice and support to residents in East Dorset and Purbeck. We rely upon donations and grants to enable us to help local residents who come to see us with a range of different issues. 

Housing affordability is a key issue for many people. Between January & October 2023 we helped 886 people with 2068 housing issues. Demand is increasing as more & more people are unable to pay their rent, mortgages and bills due to the increased cost of living.

Some people lack the fundamental life skills needed to maintain their homes, making them more vulnerable to homelessness. The health and wellbeing of individuals is greatly affected when they are at risk of homelessness.  Many families and individuals are housed in temporary accommodation, often out of the area where they had been living. 

Temporary accommodation typically has higher rents, resulting in higher transport costs (due to rurality) to work and school, coupled with the impact of the loss of support networks such as help with looking after children whilst their parents are working.

The stress of living in temporary accommodation with its high costs and often poor facilities, alongside the uncertainty of the future and inability to plan, has a profound effect on families mental health and children’s wellbeing.

Since Covid we have also seen a shift in the age distribution of the people we help, with 10% now falling into the 70-84 age range.

How Funding Will Help

Funding will support our team of housing advisers to continue working together, offering support to vulnerable individuals and families for up to twelve months. We support families in their homes, as we recognise that going to them works best, they are more likely to engage. The team work in an empowering way, encouraging families to be proactive instead of reactive, increasing their basic skills and resilience for the future.

Through our intervention families are helped to regain & retain their homes.

Without funding, the support will not be available, which may result in potential homelessness for vulnerable people.

Visit www.edpcitizensadvice.org.uk to see all the awesome work we do!

This project successfully funded on 12th January 2024