We’re big advocates for Charters – why? Because we believe that when you work in partnership with a shared focus, tackling homelessness becomes that bit easier.
A homelessness charter is an agreement to abide by a set of principles to work towards achieving a shared mission.
It’s a location-specific, public commitment that is written up and then signed by voluntary, faith, private and public sector organisations in the same location.
Like locations, Charters vary. We recently worked with our Street Support partner, Matt in Derbyshire, to produce theirs.
The process started with the pulling together of two sets of guidelines –
1) Rights that we believe that every person experiencing homelessness in Derbyshire should have – agency, respect, a safe home.
2) Qualities that we believe everyone working with people experiencing homelessness should be – adaptive, collaborative, non-judgemental
It’s one of the simpler Charters we’ve worked on – and we love it for that. Six beliefs that folks in Derbyshire can pledge their commitment to via an online form.
To find out more about Charters, how it could benefit your location to have one, and how to put one together, get in touch.