Inspiring women working at Your Place
Your Place is full of inspiring women; those who are overcoming great challenges to have a better life, and those delivering on our mission to solve homelessness one person at a time in their roles, and making significant contributions every day.
Shannon is Housing Services Team Leader, and has worked at Your Place for 22 years. Here she shares what motivates her, as well as the importance of shared values.
When I first joined Your Place, I had a role in the kitchen. We provided meals for residents, and my job was behind the scenes, cooking and cleaning to keep things running smoothly. I did that job for a few years, before moving into office admin, and from there my career only went up: after getting so much experience seeing how things work at Your Place, I moved into the role of Specialist for referrals into and move-on beyond our services, and now I’m a Team Leader! They’re such key parts of a resident’s journey with us – where we meet their immediate need for housing after they’ve lost their homes, and when they’ve benefitted from our support and are ready to go on to live independently. I’m proud to be able to play a part in some way.
Building on my knowledge and skills is really important, and I’m currently doing a Housing Apprenticeship from the Chartered Institute of Housing. I was put forward by my manager when I was promoted to my current role, and it’s a great opportunity to learn more and have all the tools I need moving forward. It’s going well so far, even though it’s a big commitment! Part of the qualification involves coming up with a project to be presented to senior management, and my chosen area is improving void management at Your Place, to improve how we deal with spaces when people move on so that the next person can move in quickly.. I reviewed the process and came up with recommendations, which were approved, which feels really rewarding.
I’ve been at Your Place for a long time, but I have stayed so long because I’m really passionate about what we do. Supporting people coming to us from really hard situations, such as those fleeing conflict, is so important to me, but also to Your Place as a charity, so it’s great to work somewhere that shares my values. My main motivation is our residents and supporting them, especially when people move into independent living. That is how we’re really helping solve homelessness one person at a time.
Cecile is our Recruitment and Retention Officer, and has been at Your Place for just over a year.
My role is recruitment and retention, so I have responsibility for ensuring that we create roles that support our mission, and hire (and keep) the best people for the job. I oversee everything from the job post going out, up until our team members complete their probation period. I’m here to support the new member of the team with their onboarding process, ensuring their roles are meaningful and they feel they are able to perform well and have an impact, and working with them to become permanent members of the team.
I was initially People Officer at Your Place, before specialising and becoming Recruitment and Retention Officer. This has been my first experience working within a charity, and I’m really enjoying learning so much about how charities work and the kind of support we need to give so that we can deliver the best outcomes for residents. Here, I feel that I work with people who really love their job, and are fulfilled by it. Team members come to work here because they are passionate about people and they want to see and help others do well. Something that’s great about working here is that all staff have the opportunity to impact policy changes, which I think is quite unique. Everyone has something different to bring – whether from their personal or professional experience or values – and all contributions are valued.
What we do really well as an organisation is supporting growth. Developing people is a huge part of how we work at Your Place, both in terms of supporting residents and developing and up-skilling staff in ways which are important to them to have greater impact and satisfaction in their roles. There have been so many people who started off as volunteers or in administrative or entry-level roles, who have worked their way up to team leaders, managers, and head of departments or work areas.. Growth is a key value of ours, and recognise that looks different for some people. We ensure we provide varied opportunities to enable growth and development, and as a member of the team it’s great to know that you’re going to be challenged and supported to do your best.
Shannon and Cecile are just two of many incredible women that live, work and volunteer at Your Place. We wouldn’t be who we are without them, so thank you.
If you’re interested in joining the team and working with us, please click here for employment and click here for volunteering opportunities.