Homeless charity showcases positive outcomes from last year
A year of people finding homes, work and improving their lives has been celebrated by a city homeless charity.
The Good Shepherd in Wolverhampton spent last year helping hundreds of people hit by homelessness, cost of living issues and other social issues to make positive steps forward through work with its staff, partners and volunteers.
The charity, which celebrated its 50th year in 2022, took to social media to talk about some of the positive outcomes it had achieved over the year.
Its headline figures include helping 45 people to gain accommodation and 52 people to get into training or education, while a further 104 people were able to improve their money management as a result of work by the Good Shepherd.
Good Shepherd CEO Tom Hayden said the last year had been a tough one for everyone, but the successes had been a real boost to everyone at the charity.
He said: “It feels like we’ve gone from one crisis with Covid to another straight away with the cost of living, but the successes we’ve had with people getting accommodation and working is positive and what we’re here for.
“Every single one of the numbers is a person behind that who has a family, loved ones, partners and kids, so every person who has turned their life around and got employment or accommodation is life-changing for them and fantastic for us to be able to help with that.
“Our ethos is ‘It starts with a meal’ and a lot of people come to us for a hot meal, a shower or clean clothes, but it’s not just about that and is all about making sure they have the support to move on in their lives.
Other successful outcomes in 2022 included 62 people having better management of mental health and 40 having better management of physical health.
In addition, 38 people engaged in community activities, nine gained paid employment, 20 gained increased engagement in treatment services and 12 started volunteering at the Good Shepherd.
Mr Hayden said the team at the Good Shepherd were one of the big reasons why the numbers of people helped were so high and also referenced the partner agencies such as P3 and the Haven for their help.
He said: “I think every single person we’ve helped and had help with has been a success and to see people move from sleeping on the streets to moving into accommodation is huge.
“For us, wherever anyone makes a positive step forward, that’s the most important because it’s their individual goal.”
To find out more about the Good Shepherd and the work it does, go to gsmwolverhampton.org.uk
