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Supported housing – the journey home
Zetetick’s tenants have often been on a long journey before flying home to Zetetick, and the journey doesn’t end when they move into a Zetetick house.
If you work with us …. Frontier Support Services, Wisdom, Arundel Care
Many of our tenants have spent years in inpatient units, places that have been shown not to be good for people with autism and learning disabilities, and where they often deteriorate. Being in the wrong environment can cause issues such as sensory overload, and often people are caused unnecessary distress by the use of inappropriate treatments such as restraints or a ‘chemical cosh’. Sometimes people are sent miles away from loved ones so also feel isolated and desperate.
Spreading their wings
A recent enquiry in to the treatment of people with autism and learning disabilities by the Health and Social Care Committee took evidence from experts with lived experience. When asked about the alternatives to putting people in inpatient settings, all the witnesses said they had seen examples of
people who have gone from being restrained and secluded in hospital to thriving within the community within days
As a housing provider of best practice supported housing, Zetetick knows these massive improvements are possible because we have seen the same results in some of our own tenants. Moving into what might be a first home of their own for our tenants is the first step of the journey to a new life, where they can spread their wings and become valued members of their communities.
Zetetick offers quality supported housing
Zetetick can find housing quickly or work with commissioners on long term projects. To provide supported housing, we rent high quality property on the private rental market in South London and the South East so can quickly find a home that matches individual tenants, or we can work with property developers on converting existing buildings specifically for supported housing. For our Henderson House project in Croydon we facilitated a team made up of the local authority, NHS, care provider and property developer to create 10 top quality self-contained apartments out of a dilapidated film processing plant. Read more about it here: Henderson House supported living croydon
Being a successful charity, Zetetick doesn’t have to inflate our charges to local authorities in order to pay large dividends to shareholders. Our charitable purpose is to do more of what we are already doing, providing lovely homes to marginalised people with a focus on value for money, rather than just wanting to feather our nest.
We build trusted relationships with the partners we work with in local authorties, the NHS, care providers and landlords, and also with our tenants who we aim to be life partners with for their housing needs. We are so proud that our very first tenant is still with us after 14 years.
Covid-19 and inequalities
The pandemic and lockdown has been particularly hard on people with learning disabilities and autism and has revealed the many inequalities faced by that community. This is especially so in access to supported housing.
People with learning disabilities have been shown to be disproportionately more likely to die from Coronavirus than the rest of the population due to health inequalities, have had to fight for access to vaccines and against DNR orders, and are more likely to be adversely affected by lockdown. Having routines disrupted can be distressing, and feelings of isolation which were common before Covid have been intensified in lockdown. People with disabilities are also much more likely to be digitally excluded, so they don’t have access to the video calls most of us take for granted for keeping in touch with loved ones.
Zetetick belives that people with autism and learning disabilities deserve to be given the support they need to live as independently as possible, in supported housing, both during the pandemic and afterwards. It is more important than ever for everyone to have the right to live in a home they love and that suits their individual needs, where they can live the life they want.
If you would like Zetetick to find a supported housing home for someone then get in touch and Contact Us. We currently operate in London and the South East but are expanding into other areas.