White Heather House - Housing services

White Heather House has enabled HARP to provide a service specifically for women, in a supportive and understanding environment.

Women experiencing homelessness are highly vulnerable and often have complex needs, they are one of the most isolated groups in society. The average life expectancy for homeless women is just 43 years. 4 years shorter than homeless men and 37 years shorter than the general female population.

Women who are homeless are at high risk of mental health problems and are frequently victims of domestic and sexual violence. Southend is also one of the last remaining red light districts in the South East.

30% of the people that HARP support are women. Women can often have a very different journey to their male counterparts. The introduction of our single-gender environment has enabled HARP to provide a less intimidating entry point to homeless services to women, in a supportive and understanding environment. A number of women have often stayed in negative relationships and have also turned to street working to enable them to have money and stay somewhere safe (e.g. Bed and Breakfast hotels) and also some have been taken in to an individual's home and are allowed to stay there in return for sexual favours. Many of the women we support have complex lives often with traumatic pasts.

Many of the women lack confidence and are isolated. Sexual exploitation is a common occurrence that we see, often this comes with a stigma, and shame so offering extensive emotional support as well as ensuring someone is physically healthy is a key aspect of our role. White Heather House provides women with a tranquil, private space to escape and begin to recover from homelessness.

01702430696

jennie.bioletti@harpsouthend.org.uk

• women only
• aged 18+
• homeless
• initial and risk assessment completed at point of referral
• recourse to public funds established
• priority given to those with a local connection
• respite offered to enable reconnection work to be carried out with out of area individuals
• low to medium support needs
• 20 bed spaces, 8 bed spaces allocated to Southend City Council's accommodations panel
• 12 bed spaces through HARP's assessment and referral via the day centre
• in-house managed moves to other HARP accommodation

Resident will be expected to:

• be up to date with service charge payments
• have attended tenancy sustainment course
• no anti-social behaviour whilst at HARP
• sustained accommodation for a minimum of 6 months
• maintained upkeep of accommodation to an acceptable standard
• engage with support planning
• adhere to terms of licence agreement