The brand new partnership between the West Midlands Mixed Authority (WMCA) and the Road Assist Community charity has helped to create the Road Assist West Midlands web site.
The web service has been created to carry collectively details about companies offered by nearly 300 public and voluntary sectors organisations throughout the WMCA’s seven constituent native authority areas of Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton.
It’s geared toward serving to to forestall a variety of homelessness past probably the most seen type of tough sleeping, reminiscent of households with kids in short-term lodging; people staying in night time shelters, hostels and supported lodging; and couch surfers.
Funded by the Authorities’s Tough Sleeping Initiative, the web site is a part of the work of the WMCA Homelessness Taskforce and provides hyperlinks to companies reminiscent of debt recommendation and budgeting, meals schemes and lodging, well being companies, and coaching and employment alternatives.
It additionally factors residents and companies to methods they’ll assist the work of homelessness companies, reminiscent of giving their time as a volunteer, donating, and different methods of making a group to sort out homelessness collectively.
Andy Road, Mayor of the West Midlands and WMCA chair, established the WMCA Homelessness Taskforce to carry collectively the area’s native authorities, different public, and voluntary sector our bodies, and the enterprise group to make sure the area’s mainstream companies and methods work collaboratively.
The taskforce can also be prevention-focussed to maintain folks in their very own properties, jobs, communities, schooling, and linked to protected assist.
Mr Road mentioned: “Proper from the very outset of my time in workplace, I’ve made tackling homelessness a key precedence.
“Our native authorities and wider companions work tirelessly to supply assist and early intervention to these liable to homelessness.
“Collectively we will help folks get the fitting assist to alter their circumstances for the higher.
“That’s why it’s excellent news that this web site goes dwell – making native folks extra conscious of the assistance at hand.
“My hope is that this new useful resource will construct on current homelessness companies in a helpful and sensible method.”
Road Assist Community works to attach native folks and organisations to assist those that want it probably the most by offering a web-based hub to search out out about homelessness, see what assist is obtainable, and to search out out what could be finished to assist.
Eliz Hopkins, West Midlands coordinator for Road Assist Community, mentioned: “All people deserves a protected place to name house.
“We hope that having the Road Assist listing for the West Midlands will allow people and households who’re experiencing, or going through the prospect of homelessness, to search out the assistance they want of their locality.
“It can even be an excellent useful resource for organisations working within the homelessness sector and past to collaborate with each other and enhance companies.”
For extra data on the WMCA Homelessness Taskforce, go to wmhtf.web