Working at The Connection involves dealing with crisis all the time. Whether it’s the cold weather emergency protocol, or the particular circumstances of an individual coming into our centre for the first time. However, we all agree that this crisis has been in a different league.
In March, we made the difficult decision to close the building as we couldn’t keep clients and staff safe. In the final two days we were open, at least two clients were Covid positive. Instead, we took on the management of two hotels, supporting over 100 people with complex needs to stay safe. We provided remote support to many more, including those still on the streets and worked with The Passage to feed 350 people in hotels 3 meals every day.
We have collaborated with colleagues across agency divides to move clients from hotels into temporary and permanent accommodation. There are now fewer than 70 people in hotels (from a peak of 266), and everyone has a plan to ensure they don’t return to the streets.
The hotels have provided stability and security for many. We have facilitated regular access to drug and alcohol treatment, mental health support, help with benefits and immigration advice. People with long-standing problems look likely to move away from the streets for good. However, sadly, we know of at least 100 people who never made it to the hotels, mainly due to funding, and remain on the streets.
We are planning our return to Adelaide Street, hosting 30 clients at a time. Emergency Accommodation will re-open this weekend for 20 people with complex immigration status. We will help clients we already know, are identified by our outreach team, or are referred by another support service. Plans are developing to re-establish other day services towards the end of July.
Covid has taught us three things: political will brings funding and impetus for change; intensive interventions with a focused group of clients works; partnership and collaboration between agencies makes the results even better. We don’t want to waste this learning. In a few weeks, we’d like to start a conversation about the future for The Connection. Success is not just about the number of people we help, it’s about the impact we make. We have had amazing help and support from many of you during the lock down and we look forward to having this conversation with you soon.
Pam Orchard
