The London Housing Foundation was very pleased to support the Making the extraordinary ordinary conference, which took place on 1 April 2008 at CCT Venues Smithfield, London.
This event, which was led by Homeless Link and Thames Reach, was designed to inform working practices, encouraging the employment of homeless people within the homelessness sector. It explored the benefits of service user employment as well as possible barriers and solutions, and was backed up by existing models of good practice.
London Housing Foundation Executive Director Kevin Ireland said: "Employing service users is not about 'hanging on' to clients or even providing a 'safe haven' for them to work in. It's about acknowledging and developing their talents and experiences and giving them a real chance to be part of a solution rather than a problem. Importantly, it's also about opening up the organisations that provide services to homeless people to a greater influence from those who have been homeless."
Feeding into the conference were the results of the The London Housing Foundation sponsored User Employment Seminar held on the 22nd October 2007, the purpose of which was to enable agencies to explore the benefits and challenges of employing current and former service users, and to investigate the business case for employing service users within the homelessness sector. It also drew significantly on Thames Reach's GROW programme (Giving Real Opportunities for Work).
It is hoped that this event has helped shape the future of service delivery in the homelessness sector by using the first-hand expertise, knowledge and enthusiasm of people who have themselves experienced homelessness.
A Thames Reach and Homeless Link conference, in partnership with the London Housing Foundation, Off the Streets and Into Work, and SITRA.
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