Justlife housing and self-sufficiency services in Manchester

Vulnerable individuals, including homeless people, can turn to Justlife for help. The charity provides assistance across greater Manchester. Programmes are available for the homeless, the unemployed, and people with an unsettled housing history. Advisers from the charity can help with employment, advice on deposits to pay for new accommodations, healthcare, and more.

There are a few resources provided by Justlife. The main ones are below, however other programmes are always being created by the organisation. They are offered to clients as needed by the Manchester charity. The focus is on the homeless and most vulnerable, even including those that have been moving between B&Bs in the area.

Home and Housing Services is administered. This includes many resources and is operated as part of Justlife at Home. Services are offered in partnership with other groups, such as Persula Foundation, Crisis, Tudor Trust, Steinberg Family Charitable Trust and Zurich Community.

The housing and deposit programme helps single non-statutory homeless people start new. There are resources that will help them both find and sustain new tenancies in the private rented sector. This will also include support for overcoming financial barriers to renting, information on housing benefits and also deposit schemes. Case workers will be matching people with landlords in Manchester and providing support to all parties for several weeks or months.

There is also advice offered to people and families with housing and homelessness issues. Justlife does all it can to prevent homelessness and they also offer a twice-weekly housing advice drop-in centre and workshop in partnership with Manchester City Council.

The charity will provide for the provision of intensive set-up home support for all tenants. A focus is on those with low wage or benefits. It will help those in Manchester who reside in sustainable private tenancies. Ongoing housing support is offered for tenants too.

The Justlife Centre coordinates many services in the city. It is paid for by Big Lottery Fund Reaching Communities and other donations. Some of the Programmes provided are below.

• Drop-in meals are served a couple times per week. They are free to the homeless and vulnerable in Manchester.
• Referrals – Staff from Justlife provide referrals to organisations in greater Manchester. This can include health, housing benefits, low income flats, rent schemes, and other services to ensure clients receive the best possible support.
• Employment and skills development – Specialist staff will help clients build skills for increased employment and life skills. There are also Jobclub sessions held.
• Health care – Nurses run full day clinics which offer advice and treatment. Other services include Mental Health services and more.
• Key working – This is set up as an outcome-focused needs assessment plan. It will help people overcome barriers to employment, housing, and health care. Clients can explore schemes for paying security deposits and housing expenses as part of this approach.

Another centre, Justlife Brighton is at One Church Gloucester Place. The Drop-in is manned by a team of part-time staff and volunteers. They provide a free meal, housing, health, and information on benefits. They also work on temporary accommodation for the homeless and vulnerable people in the area. The services are focused on those in the Grand Parade region.

Temporary accommodation are also offered as part of PathwayPlus, but it is only offered for people leaving a hospital. This is done in partnership Brighton Homeless Healthcare as well as with St. John Ambulance. Justlife provides support to low income patients when they are discharged from local hospital.

The charity relies on private funding and government grants to keep its doors open. They try to fill the gap between other available sources. So not every agency will qualify for charitable giving or grant funding, so this is where Justlife fits in. They also offer consultation and contracted work to other not-for-profits, so they are able to generate revenue on their own. Please contribute to the charity if you can, as they rely on it.

Justlife Manchester is located at Health and Enterprise Centre, 1479-1489 Ashton Old Road, Manchester, M11 1HH, T: 0161 285 5888. Another site is at School Clinic, Morley Street, Brighton, BN2 9DH, T: 0300 123 1550.