Helping the Homeless of Lincoln

Hope into Action opens two houses in Nottingham:

During the period covered by this report Hope into Action launched in Nottingham – we recruited staff and opened our first house in partnership with St Saviours Church. Two former street sleepers moved in May 2013: one went on a literacy course and volunteers every week for the church, another was employed by a church before moving into a full-time rehab.

We opened our 2nd church in March. The book of Acts talks of people ‘sharing…so there was no needy amongst them’ the below is an article about a 21st century group of people trying to do something similar.

Congregation comes together to buy Nottingham house

Twelve compassionate churchgoers invested £10,000 each to buy a home for the homeless.

Each have used their own savings to buy the threebedroom home. Their aim is simple – to help vulnerable people off the streets and give them a second chance at life.

Charles Hume, a member of the investor group, said “For me, this is a sound investment in bricks and mortar. But we also are investing in the process of restoration for individuals who, for whatever reason, have been dealt a poor hand in life. It’s really difficult for them to make the step back into what we would consider the normal rights and privileges of an individual in our country. For me personally, and the position I’m in personally, it felt obvious to be involved in this.”

The 12 investors, who come from five churches across Nottingham, signed up for the project after hearing about Hope into Action. Some of them had the money sitting around in a building society account and felt this would be a good use for it.

Nigel Adams, director at Hope Nottingham, said: “After hearing about the scheme run by Hope into Action we decided to contact churches in the local area to invite people to invest in a property.

“We sent out a note in one of our newsletters and had 12 people come forward and agree to put in an equal amount of money. The churches other role is to provide support for tenants who go into the home. Some of the church team will provide mentoring and pastoral care.”

One of the biggest things for homeless people is that they can become very isolated and don’t know how to form relationships with other people – that’s one of the biggest hindrances to getting back into normal life.

The house will remain the property of the 12 investors, but will provide a safe place to live for long-term homeless people for at least the next five years.. Homeless people, who are from a variety of backgrounds, will come from various referral agencies and Hope into Action assess them to see if they fit our criteria for coming into the house. Some of them could be former prisoners or people whose family circumstances have left them with nowhere to stay but all of them are in desperate need of our help. Canon Alan Howe, Vicar of Christ Church in Chilwell, said: “We are delighted to support this radical use of money from members of local churches and most importantly see people mentor and be-friend the tenants in the house.”

“We are delighted to support this radical use of money from members of local churches and most importantly see people mentor and be-friend the tenants in the house. ”

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