Our housing
The housing pathway
Nobody goes from a doorway to their own front door in one step. Our pathway is built in stages, each with less support than the last, so people move on when they are ready rather than when a bed is needed.
The pathway
Three stages, one direction
Everyone arrives at a different point and moves at a different pace. What follows is the shape of it, not a timetable.
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1 · First Steps
Emergency rooms and temporary accommodation. Safety first — somewhere warm tonight, and someone to work out what comes next with you.
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2 · Step Forward
Your own space with intensive support. Learning to run a tenancy with the team close at hand.
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3 · Move On
Semi-supported living with reduced support, for around two years, as independence takes over.
Stage one
First Steps
First Steps is where most people come in, often straight off the street. It covers two kinds of room: emergency rooms for an immediate safe night, and temporary accommodation rooms for while a longer-term plan is being put together.
The priority is simply safety — warm, dry, a door that locks and a meal — and then a member of the team beside you to sort housing applications, benefits and health needs.
- Emergency rooms for an immediate safe night
- Temporary accommodation rooms while a plan comes together
- A support worker to help with housing, benefits and paperwork
- Somewhere safe to keep your things, and a door that locks
Stage two
Step Forward
Step Forward is your own place with intensive support around it — a kitchen of your own, a washing machine, a front door. For a lot of people it is the first time in a long while that they have had either.
Support is deliberately heavy at this stage. Running a tenancy is a skill like any other: paying rent on time, managing bills, keeping on top of a home, dealing with post that looks frightening. The team is close at hand while that becomes second nature.
- Self-contained accommodation of your own
- Intensive support from the team
- Tenancy skills — rent, bills, paperwork, keeping a home
- Counselling and health support alongside
- Vocational training in the workshop if you want it
Stage three
Move On
Move On is semi-supported living with the support dialled down. People stay around two years on average, which is deliberate — long enough to build a rent record, a routine and some savings, rather than being moved along the moment things look steady.
By this point the team is in the background rather than the foreground. The aim is that leaving is a step you choose, into a tenancy you can hold.
- Semi-supported living, closer to an ordinary tenancy
- Around two years on average
- Reduced support as independence takes over
- Training and work opportunities through Cornerstone
- A rent record and a reference for moving on
All the way through
What runs alongside the rooms
Accommodation on its own does not end homelessness. The same things are available at every stage of the pathway, whether someone has been with us a week or two years.
One-to-one support
A named worker for housing applications, benefits, appointments and the things that are hard to face alone.
Counselling
Cornerstone is a counselling service as well as a housing one. Talking help is part of the offer, not an add-on.
Training and work
Vocational training in the workshop and the shops — real skills, and something to put on a CV.
The hubs
Showers, laundry, food, wifi and a warm room at Bishop Auckland and Hartlepool, whether you are housed with us or not.
How do I get a room?
Start by talking to us. Come into one of the hubs, ring, or use the Need help? page — a support worker will go through your situation and what is available. If we have nothing suitable, we will help you work out who does.
What if I need somewhere tonight?
Say so. Emergency rooms exist for exactly that. If we are full we will not simply turn you away — we will help you find somewhere safe.
How long can I stay?
There is no single answer, because the pathway moves at the pace of the person on it. Move On placements average around two years. The earlier stages are shorter, but nobody is moved on before they are ready.
Do I have to move through every stage?
No. People join the pathway wherever they are and leave it whenever they are ready. Some go straight into Step Forward; others stay in First Steps for a while before anything else makes sense.
Can I bring my dog?
Ask us. We know how much it matters — Bob is proof enough of what a dog does for people here — and we will always try to work something out rather than making you choose.
What happens if it does not work out?
Coming back is not a failure and it will not be treated as one. Talk to your worker as early as you can, because most things are easier to sort before they become a crisis.
A pathway only works if there is a room at the end of it
Every stage costs money to run. Your support is what keeps the doors open.