House of Mercy housing services in Kent

The House of Mercy is a charity organisation that partners with the government, such as Kent County Council, and other agencies to help the vulnerable. A prioirty is on offering housing assistance. A hostel for the homeless is on site, but that is not all that this charity offers. They also run a drop in centre for anyone from the community to stop by for support.

Most of the assistance is for families on a low income in Gravesend. However anyone from the county can use the centre at the church. Many of the clients will be assigned a key worker who they will partner with as they access the services available.

The Hostel is available for about ten individuals. That is not a large number of people, but they will be given a room to sleep in. The client will also be given a meal, clothing, and basic support. Also, as part of the keywork process they can learn about other housing programmes for their needs.

The keyworker from House of Mercy can help the client apply for the council rent deposit schemes. Or some people may have an income low enough that allows them to receiver a housing benefit. So those housing services are provided by the charity.

If the hostel is full, or when someone is going to leave it, they can get referrals to emergency shelter in the region. This can be used while someone waits for room at the hostel. Once the client is stable, the keyworker from House of Mercy will direct them to longer term housing.

Specialists from House of Mercy offer practical support as noted below. When that type of assistance is not enough, then the team can provide referrals to the Kent Council benefits, including welfare. Most of the assistance in Kent will be for food, white goods, and other household items. On rare occasions may financial help be provided, mostly for energy bills. House of Mercy can provide information and link people to the local welfare assistance scheme that may benefit them.

The budgeting, housing and job programmes are available from the drop-in centre. This location is a gateway to accessing services. The keyworker, or one of the five to ten volunteers that partner with the church, will help the person apply for other assistance in the Kent County area. There are also workshops held.

One service, the resettlement workshop, will have staff from the local council use the drop in centre to give advice. They can answer questions on housing benefits and other welfare schemes. The aim will always be to prevent homelessness.

House of Mercy offers budgeting too. This touches on addressing debt arrears as well as how clients can maximise their income. The aim is to help the person improve their financial condition. There are also counsellors from the Gravesend credit union that stop by the give advice.

The job services include help with CV writing. They also have an internet access point that can be used to search for employment in Kent County. The use of phones is available as well from the House of Mercy.

Practical support is available from the soup kitchen on site as well as other church services. This will serve cheap meals to the homeless. There is also a laundry room for washing facilities and a low cost clothing store in which homeless people can buy the items they need.

The church, as well as House of Mercy, has an address of 1 Edwin Street, Gravesend, Kent, DA12 1EH. While most of the clients are from the city of Gravesend, anyone from the county can drop in for advice or housing support. The phone is 01474 329514.