Kairos’ Move-on team celebrates independent living success

Kairos’ Move-on team have started the year on a high note, celebrating the eleventh resident to successfully transition to an independent flat since August, in collaboration with St Mungo’s Clearing House and ThamesReach.  All these individuals previously experienced street homelessness.

This marks a significant achievement amidst tough economic conditions and a scarcity of social housing.  The team has also supported other residents in transitioning to diverse housing arrangements during this period.

Matt Dear, Manager of the Move-on team, described how, “accessing these properties for our residents in the current climate is an amazing feat.  It’s the icing on the cake for the Move-on team when someone comes through our service and, a couple of years down the line, settles into their own property.  Our thanks to St Mungo’s, ThamesReach, and our hard-working Move-on team.  And to our residents: it’s a massive achievement, moving from being street homeless and dealing with addiction, to this point.”

Director Mossie Lyons said: “It gives me great heart to hear of someone who was vulnerable when they came to us getting the key to a flat.  This person, with that smile and glow in their face of health and wellbeing, can go ahead and live life to the full.  They’re sober, healthy, and living in their own place. 

“There is a rediscovery and reclamation of personhood through Kairos.  We may continue supporting people after they move into independent places, in case they come up against something to bring them down again.  We never want that to happen.  

“This collaboration with St Mungo’s and ThamesReach is vital.  It gives people a chance to step outside, at the end of their time with us – stepping not into the world from which they came, but to a place of security. A place of safety, a place that they can call home.”