Teesside homelessness charity helping people 'escape their difficult lives'
DePaul UK say they're continuing to support people take that first step in getting off the streets
We're hearing from a Teesside homelessness charity who say they're helping people take that first step in getting off the streets.
The charity says they've supported dozens in Middlesbrough so far this year to escape their difficult lives and into safe and secure accommodation.
Dan Demoulin, director of development and external affairs at DePaul UK, said: "We do see a shockingly and desperately sad number of people sleeping rough and who are homeless in Middlesbrough.
"Every time we open up our drop-in we get around 30 to 40 people coming in. Most people are from Middlesbrough but we do get people from other parts of Teesside and even further afield. People potentially come to Middlesbrough because sadly they can't get the help they need, where they are, where they come from.
"When we open it in the morning, there's always a queue of people who've been sleeping on the street outside, desperate to come in, get warm, have a cup of tea and just have a break for a few hours from the difficulty of living on the street.
"But it's not just about that, we want to help make people comfortable, but everything we do is about helping people to get off the street and move out from homelessness for good.
"It is a real hub. We've got our teams there, but we've also got mental health teams coming in, we've got the council housing team, the rough sleeping team, substance use workers, and social workers. So it's an opportunity for people to come in and see everything, everyone they need to see, get all the help they need all in one place.
"I can think of people that have been sleeping rough for decades in Middlesbrough. In and out of services, nothing's worked and it's really tragic. People who've just given up. They've just assumed they're never going to get off the streets. But we've helped them, we've helped people into our own flats, get their lives back on track and then they've moved into their own homes and left homelessness behind them, never to return to it.
"Moving into our flats is just the start. We've got a whole team of people who help people I work with to settle in, get comfortable, make sure that people feel at home and also help with practical stuff, paying bills, taking care of the house.
"We run cookery classes so if people need to they can come and learn to cook with us. We help people to get settled in the local community, to get involved in volunteering, look for work, enrol on courses, and then people manage to get back on their feet, live more independently, embedded in the community, and then they can move on into a longer term home, and then we've got that flat for someone else who's sleeping rough to move into."
Find out more on the DePaul UK website.