Launching our women’s development strategy
Lydia Roberts, Women's Development Specialist at Your Place, says
“The community of unbreakable women at Your Place is alive. They can be seen sharing shoulders to cry on, protecting one another, and giving space to those voices who find it difficult to be heard. Seen here is community resilience rooted in expert knowledge of the streets, social systems and mutual care. A resilience which inspires the community networks central to improving wellbeing and building the strength to move beyond challenging times.”
We know that women’s experience of homelessness is often very different to that of men. And that as a sector, we need to do better to recognise that and make changes to best support those who need us.
Here, we share with you how and why that is the case, and what we – at Your Place – commit to do.
We recognise the importance of gender-informed support, and have appointed a Women’s Development Specialist who has reviewed and carried out essential research to inform our work in this area. This involves understanding the impact of gender on experiences of homelessness, and the subsequent need for services to be trauma-informed, relationship-based and to draw upon the resilience of women.
But we can’t do this alone. We need a better cross-sector response to women’s homelessness, to support recovery and drive best practise across the sector.
This strategy has been co-produced and would not have been possible without the contribution of those who have done research before us, the specialist services and partners that we work with, and our frontline employees who provide support. Their input and collaboration has been invaluable.
And of course, the women we are here to support who shared their experiences and views on what they see as gaps in support services, to help shape effective services for women on their journeys away from homelessness. Their contribution has allowed us, as an organisation, to grow and do better.
We hope this document, and our principles and strategy, may be useful to you and your organisation, and perhaps provide some food for thought on what you could do to improve services for women.
Together, we can solve homelessness, one person at a time. And here we share with you how we intend to do just that for the women that come through our doors.
Your Place keenly welcomes collaboration and sharing of learning. If you would like to find out more or get involved in our women’s development work, we’d love to hear from you on hello@your-place.org.uk.
