Our mission has always been to prevent youth homelessness. What’s commonly misunderstood, is that we don’t (tend) to work with existing street homeless people. Instead, we work with those that evidence tells us are most likely to become homeless (which includes the currently homeless).
This means we work with young people who have grown up in care, had a period of homelessness already, been in the criminal justice system and/or are on very low incomes. This is where we can have most impact.
So whilst our mission it to prevent youth homelessness, we’re not seeking for example to change the care system. For as long as Children’s Social Services inadequately prepares young people for adult life, there will be work for us to do. Our impact will be on the services further down the chain than us – such as local authority homelessness services, supported accommodation, health services and welfare departments.
These are services that impact on all of us either from taxes we pay, communities we live in or perhaps even a loved one or personal experience.
