174 emergency beds cut
With the closure of Birmingham's two largest homeless hostels, workers and clients at the Care Centre share their views.
You may have caught one of the BCM Care Centre's recent appearances on BBC Midlands Today. Birmingham's two largest homeless hostels, Washington Court and the Salvation Army, 174 emergency beds, have now closed and workers and clients at the Care Centre have been asked to comment.
Manager, Phil Ansell, described the situation as 'uncertain' and said some in hostel accommodation could find themselves back on the streets. Bill West, a Care Centre Helper who spent many years sleeping rough in the 1990s said, 'Once the winter comes and the snow comes we know we're going to get a high death rate. It happens every Christmas. With these cutbacks I'm dreading this.'
The Care Centre is a warm, safe community welcoming rough sleepers, hostel residents and many others who need support with housing and addiction as well as for reasons such as mental health and isolation. The Care Centre team has helped to house more than 50 clients in the last year.
Following a recent snapshot survey of service users on one day at the Care Centre, Ruth Buttery, Assistant Manager said, 'For me personally, the saddest data is the rise of ex-care leavers who come as they have no support - this has gone from 7% to 42%. Loneliness is a daily struggle with almost half saying they are lonely.'
The Care Centre reception area has a new look, painted with wonderful artwork from one of its volunteers, Yessi. It features Proverbs 16:24 - 'Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and health to the body.'
