Meeting the need Jenny Dunne has been named Brent Council’s Employee of the Year 2009 for her work in tackling homelessness in the borough. Jenny Dunne is greatly improving Brent Council’s performance in a very challenging area. The Homelessness Strategy and Projects Manager is responsible for the five-year homelessness strategy, which is now running from 2008 to 2013. It sets out how the council will meet housing needs, targets for preventing and resolving homelessness, and reducing the number of people who are living in temporary accommodation. In 2008-09, there was a 36 per cent fall in homelessness applications. While numbers in temporary accommodation rose every year for a decade until 2005, it has fallen in the last three years up to 25 per cent. However, the figure is still around 3,300 people. “Preventing homelessness is the key,” says Jenny, who started in 2006 and is based in Housing and Community Care Department in Mahatma Gandhi House, Wembley. “Instead of people waiting up to three weeks for an interview we changed things to give them specialist, face-to-face advice straight away about their housing options. For example, if somebody came before with a notice of repossession they might have had to come back weeks later, but now we will try to help in ways such as offering legal help or if necessary use a small prevention fund to stop them from becoming homeless.” She leads a team of three, but works with the Housing Resource Centre in Mahatma Gandhi House on how its 150 officers can best meet
housing needs in the borough. Brent Council has a legal responsibility to house those who have met criteria set out in law for homelessness. “Most of the people we have a statutory duty towards are those with children or families, 16 and 17-year-olds, and pregnant women,” says Jenny. “But there are also rough sleepers, people escaping domestic violence, and those discharged from the Armed Forces who we must try to help with housing issues.” Partnership work is also important. The council works with local voluntary groups and funds others such as Brent Community Law Centre to give advice to residents. “Homeless people trust the voluntary sector,” says Jenny. “Cricklewood Homeless Concern set up a rough sleeping and resettlement project with us, and the Single Persons’ Advice Scheme is held there. Also Safe Partnership runs a scheme to help people who suffer domestic violence, and we are working with Paradigm Housing Association on a project helping vulnerable people in private sector accommodation.” “Brent faces a lot of challenges,” she adds. “The number on the Housing Register is very high But working with vulnerable people and helping improve their life chances is very rewarding. It is great to see someone who is off the streets, in a hostel place, thinking of a job and starting to moving back into the mainstream of society again.”
“Working with vulnerable people is very rewarding.” JANUARY 2010
THE BRENT MAGAZINE
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