August Update

We hope you all had a great Summer and enjoyed the days when we did have some sunshine!

It seems a while since our last eNews and we have all been busy ensuring that our residents had the best summer they could. We have welcomed some new members to the St Paul’s family who have been working as Relief Staff and the existing staff team have been a power of strength and support as they always are.

We have welcomed a new CEO (Chief Executive Officer), Erica, and are all thoroughly enjoying working with her. She has hit the ground running and has quickly got to grips with the charity and our purpose.

St Paul’s is an extraordinary place, and I have had an extraordinary welcome.

My start here has been insightful and like any new role, there’s a few steep learning curves at play! Made easier by joining a team who are entirely receptive and have embraced the change that comes with new leadership conscientiously and with sound knowledge to draw on.

Our vision remains that everyone has a place where they belong. I will follow on from the good work before me to tackle the systemic issues so that homelessness is rare, brief and seldom re-occurring and on a local level there’s discussion of a strategic review to understand the localised need and provision, aligned to national frameworks, to a point where services are sufficiently signposted and resourced to deliver tangible outcomes.

Since its inception St Paul’s has evolved and as with many charities suffers from inertia related to the risk and restriction of short-term funding initiatives.

That said, the impact we have is massive, over the last 10 years St Paul’s has helped 970 people, 98% of which are from Worcester and Wychavon, the causes of their homelessness ranging from eviction from home, breakdown of relationships and tragically, exit from care. Our trauma-led approach allows a degree higher than many will have ever experienced, of security, stability, and safety and thereon a community that becomes frightening to leave.

Combine that with a vastly different landscape, where housing demand outstrips supply and there are significant changes to statutory funding for case work and resettlement.

With that in mind, there are some changes we would like to make, over time, these include raising the profile of St Paul’s locally and nationally, removing the social stigmas of homelessness and more specifically, working with partners, to realign the reality of the complexity which surrounds homelessness. Through structured and meaningful support, with manageable caseloads, we want to provide choices and continued support to ensure that people can successfully leave the safe community of St Paul’s, without experiencing (worsening) social isolation and ultimately, loss of tenancy, breaking the cycle of homelessness for as many people as we can.

The next step is to find funding to deliver a successful move on beyond homelessness program.

Erica Burlace – CEO