Gateway Family Services
Changing Lives, Changing Services.
We work to improve health, develop skills and opportunities and fight inequalities. We change the way public services work.
You can’t damp-en our spirits!
It has been reported across the media this week, there is a shortage of houses across the country and an even bigger shortage of affordable houses which impacts on a large part of society, mainly those with little other choice. With homeless figures in Birmingham increasing by almost 20% in recent months, and winter upon us, it is imperative that people can access good quality, safe and affordable housing when they need it most.
Many of our clients are referred with housing issues, in fact over the last year over 40% of our pregnant women have came to us needing help with their housing situation and this number looks set to grow further.
Natsenet, a client originally from East Africa came to Gateway as she needed support with her English skills and was referred to ESOL classes in the local area. What soon became apparent however was how desperate Natsenet’s living situation was. Although she was lucky enough to have a one bedroom place of her own, the flat was full of mildew and damp and completely unsuitable for a mum to be as can be seen in the below pictures.
Natsanet’s problem with damp was so bad, paint and plaster (and the dust) were peeling from the wall
After contacting her housing officer, Natsanet was told that they were unable to help, with them blaming her for somehow causing the damp (!). Despite continually trying to get the help she needed, Natsanet was still no closer to getting the repairs she needed. After more continuous effort and rejection, trying to get some support through her housing officer, Natsanet turned to her Pregnancy Outreach Worker, Maria Hesson who called and called on her behalf, making the most of her experience in dealing with these organisations and trying to take some of the pressure off Natsetnet at such an important time in her pregnancy.
After many, many phone calls and lots of excuses, Maria managed to get hold of someone at the housing association and was able to tell them all about the situation, even showing them the pictures of the squalid conditions that this vulnerable lady was living in. Thankfully, they were happy to help, following the intervention from Maria, and they agreed to repair Natsanet’s house and remove the damp and mildew, even paying for Natsenet to stop in a hotel whilst the work was being carried out.
Natsanet, who has now given birth to a beautiful baby is delighted with her home now and feels that she can begin a new life with her child, something that she puts down to the help given to her from Maria, who received a text message from Natsanet a few weeks later, thanking her for all of her help.
‘No food for a week’ – support from Gateway
Our pregnancy outreach workers find themselves doing remarkably simple things to help women get the help they need for a healthy pregnancy.
Here Lynette is loading up her car with food donated by friends, relatives and staff at Gateway. This is common because we often find women who can’t afford to buy basic food.
We’re not alone in doing this. Food Banks are becoming more common. Fare Share is a national food bank charity which has a depot in Nechells – handing out food parcels. In September the National Lottery granted £425,000 to a the Narthex group in Sparkhill
A Big Lottery award of £425,000 to the charity Narthex Sparkhill sees a commitment to opening and running a five-year funded food bank in Sparkhill. The National Lottery, through the Big Lottery Fund, has made this grant to Narthex which will enable them to expand the work they are already doing amongst some of the most needy people in the city.
Sparkhill food bank project will address the needs of the most vulnerable within the community including people placed in sudden financial crisis due to change in personal circumstances leading to financial hardship and in some case destitution or homelessness.
Like us, the Ladywood Food Bank relies on donations from the public for its work across the constituency, plus donations from Tesco’s Morrisons, Sainsbury’s Cost-Co, Asda, Aldi, Farm Foods and other businesses.
Food is fundamental and the pregnancy outreach workers provide a critical link – they know when women are short of food and make sure they get the help they need.
Gateways skills training and apprenticeships offer employment opportunities
We work in areas where unemployment is well over 10%. There are over 1.2 million unemployed young people aged between 16 and 24 in the country as a whole and in our region there are 178,000 workless people, and 208,000 working age people with no qualifications at all. For people without qualifications or experience, finding work is more than tough. Training and employment opportunities are really important, and we work to provide them.
Some of the people who’ve tried our courses talk about their experience.
We help give local people the skills they need to find work, and whenever we can we recruit local people to work in their local area. They help others to live healthy lives, at the same time they have the chance to work. Training in skills for employment and apprenticeship schemes provide more opportunities to overcome barriers to employment.
Pregnancy Outreach Workers succeed in helping hard to reach young mums.
Gateway’s Pregnancy Outreach workers offer one to one practical and emotional support. They make sure vulnerable women access all the services and help available, resulting in healthier mothers and healthier babies who can be hard to reach. This is a typical case.
After Alison* found she was pregnant she was referred to the POW service because she was a teenager, she smoked and her housing was far from ideal.
She was very frank about her lifestyle, and her difficult childhood. She said she’d self-harmed while she was still at school, and that she’d used cannabis and cocaine ‘to forget’. Although she said she’d given up cocaine, she said she still used cannabis quite heavily.
It was clear Alison needed emotional support and practical advice. A Gateway POW helped her to access all the services and grants she was eligible for, and told her how she could reduce her intake of cannabis. A ‘Stop Smoking Clinic’ was suggested.
Alison said she’d rather try and give up by herself, that she’d cut down from 25 to 5 cigarettes a day and only used cannabis once in the evening.
Alison shared her fears around parenting and her doubts about being a good mother. The outreach worker tried to give her confidence and practical support, then, three months before she gave birth, Social Services got in touch with her. They said they’d been contacted about her cannabis use. She was really worried, but was given reassurance and told to be open and honest with the social worker when they visited.
Alison went to a support group at her local children’s centre and Gateway’s outreach worker visited her at home until she gave birth to a healthy baby girl.
On the day she left hospital, Alison was again visited at home by Social Workers. They drew up a 6 week care agreement with her and said if they had no cause for concern at the end of it, they would close her case. She followed the care agreement, and when the 6 weeks were up the social workers were satisfied. She continued to breastfeed, and said that after her daughter was born she didn’t use cannabis at all.
With support, Alison made a distinct change in her attitude to life. She now plans to devote herself to her baby’s early years, and then commit to full time study for a career in childcare. Alison said she considered the POW her ‘pal’, and said the help and support she got made a real difference.
*not her real name.
Gateway Family Services Awarded Social Enterprise Mark
Gateway Family Services has been awarded the Social Enterprise Mark in recognition of the work it does to help people overcome barriers to learning, employment and access to community healthcare.
There are 400 markholders across the UK – and it isn’t given lightly. It shows that a company is committed to social or environmental objectives, and can be trusted.
Vicki Fitzgerald, Chief Executive, is delighted with the award. For her, it is one more proof that Gateway’s work contributes to eliminating the causes of deprivation.
“Service users arrive here unprepared for the workplace but we enable them to become work-ready and qualified; some even leave their training already employed. We aim to reduce inequality by bridging gaps in public service delivery and working in partnership with the NHS and local authority. Gateway creates specific job roles to address deprivation, such as our Pregnancy Outreach Workers”, she says.
The Social Enterprise Mark will give Gateway a competitive edge and it will also be used to promote the social enterprise movement in general. For the company it will be an opportunity to demonstrate that what it does, and its profits help communities in the long term.
Gateway Pregnancy Outreach Workers help 4000 women
Gateway Family Services Pregnancy Outreach Worker
In areas of Birmingham where babies are at high risk, our outreach workers are making a real difference. The sooner a pregnant woman is seen by health professionals the better – but there are many reasons why they don’t make that vital first appointment. Travel problems, anxiety about dealing with doctors, childcare arrangements, and language issues are just some of the reasons they given – but they’re reasons our outreach workers can help with.
POWs primarily support pregnant women with a low medical risk and high social risk. Our POWs have real life experience of issues that can affect these women because they have a real good understanding of their local communities – that’s where we recruit them from and their experience is more important than any qualifications.
They’ve been offering home-based, practical support – and sometimes they just listen, but their work improves the life chances of newborn babies.