Tenancy support workers come to the rescue

Housing Options Service Trafford (HOST) provide a tenancy support service for Trafford Council to help people in the community maintain their housing and prevent homelessness.

Like many services, they have had to adapt the way they deliver support during the coronavirus lockdown.

Alison Dann, HOST’s principal manager said: “One of the main challenges for services like ours is to make sure vulnerable people do not fall down through the cracks. As face to face contact had to be stopped, it made it harder to complete welfare checks on people.”

The team recently became concerned for the safety of a man they knew to be particularly vulnerable, after being unable to contact him over the phone.

Two members of the team made an emergency home visit and found the man in need of hospital care. During his stay in hospital, tenancy support workers, Keeley Jeng and Lez Redwood worked with the hospital to ensure a safe discharge care plan was put in place before he was able to return home.

He is now back home and receives a daily home care package to support his care needs. Together with the hospital’s social work team, the tenancy support team are meeting his wider wellbeing needs to ensure that he stays safe during the remainder of lockdown.

Last year, Keeley’sheroic actions were featured on prime-time BBC series, Ambulance.

On the final episode of the series, which aired in July 2019, Keeley was seen coming to the rescue of a homeless man, called Dean after she found him collapsed in the street.

Keeley called the ambulance and waited with him while paramedics arrived. Once he was well enough to leave hospital, she then continued to support him to find him a new home.

Alison added “The hard work of my team week in and week out truly is heroic, though they would never say that themselves. I’ve been really proud to see how they have adapted to the restrictions to continue providing the service our clients need and deserve.”

If you are a Trafford resident and need support from HOST, please contact the team on 0161 912 2230 or emailhost@salixhomes.co.uk.