Almost £500,000 in funding secured to support homelessness work in Dudley
Nearly half a million pounds has been secured to support homelessness prevention work across Dudley over the next three years.
Dudley Council has been given a grant of £485,000 in the most recent round of Government funding.
The money will bolster existing services to support people at risk of becoming homeless and the small number of people found rough sleeping.
The council will use some of the money to recruit a new member of staff to provide additional welfare advice and to continue to cover the cost of existing outreach support workers.
The rest of the money will be used to continue vital work to help prevent people losing their home or tenancy, to provide emergency accommodation, essential items for those people who become homeless, and to help people secure a long-term home.
Although more than 2,000 people contacted the council’s homelessness prevention service for support in 2021, the prevention work ensures the number of people sleeping rough remains very low across Dudley.
Councillor Laura Taylor-Childs, cabinet member for housing and community services, said: "We welcome this additional funding from the government in order to continue and boost the support we are able to provide to people who find themselves in unthinkable situations.
"Every person should have a roof over their head, and this is why our prevention work is incredibly important.
"We’re committed to doing all we can to help keep people off the streets."
In the last year, Dudley Council has created a new scheme in Brierley Hill, which offers supported accommodation to people at risk of sleeping rough or who are already in that situation.
In addition, the council is working with Black Country Housing Group and the West Midlands Combined Authority to provide five homes that will be made available for rough sleepers or former rough sleepers to support them to develop life skills and enable them to move on to long-term sustainable housing options.
Finally, it launched Change into Action last year, which encourages residents to donate online to support people sleeping rough.
To make a donation or to find out more about Change into Action go to changeintoaction.org.uk/dudley
Anyone at risk of becoming homeless or in need of support can call the homelessness prevention service via Dudley Council Plus on 0300 555 2345.
People can report a rough sleeper via www.streetlink.org.uk, by calling 0300 555 0030 or through the Change into Action website.
