Dream Housing

Thomas Neumark June 2012

I'm going to explain five things

1. The initial idea 2. How it has been developed 3. New additions 4. Where we now stand 5. Next steps

My initial idea
"it's not what you know, it's who you know" 1. People often get opportunities and emotional support from their friends and family (their "social circles"). 2. Some homeless people have limited social circles. 3. Could you support homeless people to develop their social circles?

Development of the idea

1. Held a focus group with 3 men who use The Father McKenna Center to discuss the idea and hear their reaction and advice 2. Spoke with members of staff at the center about the idea.

New additions
Focus should be on helping people pursue their aspirations or dreams This should be turned into "baby steps" You have to map and develop people's talents as well as their social circles There are people (often older) who already provide support to others at the Centre People often have business ideas which they might want to develop

Who would benefit from this approach?

It's important to identify people that could benefit from this approach. For example, people that are currently using heroin or who have severe mental health problems would not benefit from this approach. However, for example, someone that is just out of prison, rehab or newly arrived in the city might. The main people who would benefit are people who have aspirations and few contacts

Current idea (1)

I have developed a template for a "Dream Journal" that someone could fill out to help them. It contains; 1. Their dream/aspiration 2. A map of their social circle (and their reflections on this) 3. A list of their skills and experience 4. A plan for them to achieve their dream

Current idea (2)

We should recruit mentors from the people who use the Centre. People that could support and encourage people. Each mentor would support 1 or 2 people to complete a dream journal and develop a plan. They would then regularly meet to check on progress and provide support. I will support the mentors and bring them together regularly so that they can discuss progress and ideas with each other.

Next steps
1. Agree this approach and agree how mentors and participants will be recruited 2. Risk assessment 3. Recruit 5 mentors 4. Along with these mentors; a. Finalize the design of the dream journal b. Decide on the best way to measure impact c. Train the mentors in listening skills

Thank you
thomas.neumark@gmail.com