Open Door and Oaklands College join forces to help people experiencing homelessness

09.12.2010

The staff at Open Door, the emergency night shelter and drop in service in St Albans operated by Hightown, are working in partnership with Oaklands College to support people experiencing homelessness back into longer term housing, education and work.

Ten service users from Open Door have just completed a two week course to help them to ‘Get Confident’, with the aim of promoting their dignity, self-worth and self-esteem. Staff from Oaklands College ran the course at the Open Door shelter in Bricket Road, during the day.

Rachael, one of the service users said “The course made me think about how people see me, and might judge me on what I do.” Matthew, another service user, said “The course got me thinking about what sort of job I’d like, and gave me some ideas on how to go about getting it.”

The feedback from service users has been so positive that the staff are already planning a follow up, called ‘Get that Job’ to help them to get back into the workplace.

Open Door is open to a wide range of people who may be experiencing housing issues including anyone who is vulnerably housed and experiencing difficulties and people who are homeless and sleeping rough.

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