The Doorway Community – Feedback from a Partner Agency

“Doorway continues to improve and grow.

As a drug and alcohol agency worker who attends weekly I feel we are able to engage people who are difficult to reach and we regularly take referrals from people who want help with their substance misuse, signpost and give advice and information.

Doorway is a safe and efficient project, well managed and effective. It provides a co-ordinated and positive meeting point for all kinds of people, vulnerable and otherwise.

The sense of community it engenders provides much needed solace to the isolated. Workers and volunteers have a non-judgemental and friendly approach that enables people to feel good about asking for help.

It’s a one stop shop for a person in crisis who can access help with housing, employment, substance problems and much more.

To have so many kinds of people, some of whom can be volatile, meet and eat in the same space is an achievement to be applauded.

I want a similar, smaller project in my home town to model itself on Doorway which to my mind is a model of excellence and should be rolled out across the land as part of a solution to the increasing problems of our age.”

Gail – New Highway

Doorway is very grateful for the support from local agencies and organisations. Without their valuable input we would not be able to deliver such an outstanding service to our guests.

Doorway Football Project Teamtalk – What It Means To Us

We always encourage feedback from guests and volunteers at the Doorway football project (Doorway indeed encourages feedback in all it does) – but we thought recently that we ought to have a more thorough gathering of opinion, given that 18 months or so had elapsed from the start of the project, and CEO Lisa needed feedback from all aspects of Doorway for the annual report (in preparation as I type this). So we (Football supremo Kev, and myself) collared everybody we could after a recent session. Here’s what we got:

“I feel good that I’m learning and improving every day, as it will help me be the best I can at the tournaments!”

“It’s great. Everybody puts in a lot of effort, and enjoys it. It’s well organised and there is always a good game at the end. To see the ladies put in the level of effort they do, and competing with the others, is excellent. And we get a cup of squash!”

“This game keeps my spirits high on and off the pitch. I also like the training given as it keeps me fit, and I also have more friends and it has set me goals like the tournament we have coming up in May” 

“We are on the verge of our two year ‘anniversary’ and the project is just as exciting as ever. Our guests are progressing and growing in many ways, not just in the sense of their football skills, but generally, in confidence and team working.
We have hardcore guests and volunteers, and the project is very successful as well as our god results at the tournaments that we have entered.
I hope to see further growth in the months and years to come. I love this project.”

“I think the football project is a useful tool for getting to know service users in another capacity, and installs a sense of purpose for those that attend. It is well organised, and the volunteers are committed to helping out. Guests have a friendly and hardworking atmosphere where they hopefully can feel safe, and most importantly have fun!”

“I like going to football. I do enjoy myself. It is a good workout. I get to talk to people of all ages. And it should be more than once a week. It is a lot of fun.”

“I really enjoy coming every week, and it helps me to improve with my weight, and keeps my fitness level up. It would be even more great if it was on more than once a week. Apart from that, I enjoy playing football, and it helps me with my confidence.”

“It’s great to see guests (and volunteers) improve their fitness and skills. In some cases it’s given incentive to stay off substances, at least for that day. In others it has been a reliever of stress and frustration. It’s good to be in a place where life outside is left behind for a while, and we’re all ‘on a level playing field’, where people are equal, and the only things that matter are the efforts put in on the pitch.
It’s also been a source of fun and pride to take part in tournaments, and to see the sense of camaraderie and team spirit.
But most of all, there have always been smiling faces and lots of laughter.”

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And so, on to our next tournament, the WASP Annual 6-a-side Tournament in Stanley Park, Chippenham, on Saturday 19th May (blog piece soon after, I hope).

We are really looking forward to it, aim to play with passion and commitment, but with fairness and good humour, with smiles on our faces. We hope to do well, but cannot guarantee scenes like these………..

Palermo copied Doorway’s kit – I THINK it was that way round….

Other posts about our football project:

“What I know most surely about morality and the duty of man, I owe to football”

“The Blues Brothers (and Sister) on the Road”

“Doorway Football – ‘Season Review 2010/11′”

“Perspiring dreams dashed in the city of dreaming spires”

“Doorway says ‘Bye Bye Blues’ and gets in the Pink…..”

Doorway Email of Complaint to Wiltshire Council Social Services Dept – Friday 4th May 2012

Early in the afternoon of Thursday 3^rd May, I telephoned your Adult Care Department via the customer services contact number.  My intention was to make a vulnerable adult referral with a view to an assessment being made by your department.  I spoke to the officer on duty.  I was not offered her name.  I was, however, left feeling very disappointed with the outcome of the conversation.

My disappointment was twofold:  first for the guest for whom I wanted to make the referral and, secondly, the quality of service I personally received.

I explained what I wanted, to make a referral.  I was asked my name.  I gave this information and told the officer that I work for Doorway in Chippenham.  I clearly heard the exasperation in her voice.  I ignored this and carried on trying to explain.  I knew I was not being heard as the quality of questions I was then asked did not fit my expectations.  I had followed all the local homeless housing procedures. My fears were for the guest’s safety.  I was asked his last known address which I gave.  I was told he was not known to the department.  I was then told that he could not be visited as he has no address.  I explained that he could be visited at the Doorway Drop In on either a Monday morning or a Thursday afternoon and that this would give a very safe environment for a social worker to assess him.  I was then told that the officer needed to speak to him.  He was spoken to and I could hear the line of questions.  He just kept saying “I don’t know how you can help me”.  I was given back the telephone to continue my conversation with the duty officer but she had gone.  I called back to ask what was to happen.  I was put through to the department again and gave my name and my reason for calling back.  After a few minutes’ silence, I was cut off.  I had already given my telephone number and expected a call back but this did not happen.

I am now formally asking the Adult Care Department to make an assessment with this young man with a view to a vulnerable person’s application being made.  If this is not possible, could I please have a reason in writing why he cannot be seen.  As I am having to submit this request via an anonymous route, I must preserve our guest’s confidentiality at this stage and not reveal his name.  Please contact me at Doorway to follow this up.

Our guest has been homeless now for six weeks and appears to have no sense of the dangerous situation he is in.  He arrives at Doorway Drop In twice a week cold hungry and very wet.  He appears disinhibited about the world and seems cut off from reality.  He may have mental health issues or learning difficulties but we would not be able to gain this information from a GP or from Social Services.  These factors mean we are unable to get to the bottom of his problems and get him the help he needs.  He has been living in a tent inMonktonParkand appears to have no connection with his family.  He also appears to have been homeless for some years in the past.  However, he has had a short term rent of a room but was unable to keep this tenancy.  He needs help to prevent this happening again.  This young man seems in need of a case worker.  He has no drug or alcohol problems.  He is quiet and shy and has shown no violence or anger to anyone working with him.

My second issue is of concern to me in my role at Doorway.  I was left feeling a nuisance for bothering the duty officer.  I have worked with homeless people for many years now and have been to many funerals of street homeless people who have died through no fault of their own.  They were just too vulnerable to look after themselves.

I have also attended workshops and courses on safeguarding adults.  I resent, as a professionally trained worker, not being allowed at least to state my concerns regarding a homeless person.  The duty officer may have felt that there was nothing she could do at the time but at least I would have expected to have been interviewed fairly and with compassion for our guest.

I must ask: what is the point in being given training in safeguarding, with the priority given to timely and correct referral, if all that happens is the kind of contempt I received today?  I am very disappointed and would like an explanation of Wiltshire Council’s policy in this regard.

Doorway Support Worker

A Life-saving Service

One of Doorway‘s guests said as a passing comment on leaving the drop-in session a couple of weeks ago: “Thanks for everything. If it wasn’t for you, I’d have jumped off a bridge by now”. He agreed to put some thoughts on paper:

“I have recently started using Doorway after being made homeless, after feeling suicidal and depressed I felt alone and lost. After 5 weeks of visiting Doorway, Lisa, Mike and all the team at Doorway, I have been given a huge amount of support including legal advice, food, emotional support, clothing. I have come to realise that I am not useless. I know for a fact that without this service and support I would surely not be alive today. My deepest respect to staff and volunteers for a life-saving service.”

This is why we do what we do……..

What’s new?

Doorway Writing Group Blog

George Orwell / Kurt Jackson / Alfred Wallis

This small, yes,

but perfectly formed group

continues to work,

sometimes in private

sometimes in public

at its poetry, its prose, its lyrics;

its sometimes lyrical poetry,

or lyrical prose, prose-poetry

and/or no-go prose.

Scatter-gun and

disco-ball

Shatter-sun and

Sally Army Hall.

We congregate

we talk

we write

we’re silent

we investigate

(in a gentle way)

what lies deeper

what’s high above

what thud thuds by

what brittles our skin

—in or out of—

laughing aloud’s

allowed always,

nothing, too-

nothing

captured in the moment before

creation breaks through.

#######

Recent work

Easter

Where does he live?

In your heart

and in your soul

The heart is his kindness

The soul his strength

Easter comes and goes

but will always return

The egg of life

new born life for ever

He died for you and me

God Praise His Son.

D

 

G. Orwell

Used to be in the police

in Burma.

Witnessed a summary

execution and quit

his job in disgust.

Wrote

‘Down and Out in

London and Paris’

chronicling his

experiences of being

down and out.

Wrote

‘The Road to Wigan Pier’

which concerned the

dreadful poverty

of the Northern poor.

Most famous, however,

‘Animal Farm’- satirises

the hopeless hypocrisy

of the Communist system.

He suffered long

with tuberculosis

and died thereof

in 1984.

No, sorry

in 1946.

C

 

The Magic Little Shoebox

And in this are all sorts of bits and pieces,

where I found certain pieces

that are interesting to me.

A little plastic duck reminds me

of new born life;

a child playing in the bath -

reminder of the child in me.

A golden ribbon that reminds me

of  a girl and all girls

because it is pretty.

A starfish, a stone

a shell and a cone

reflecting the greatness

and strength of our Lord -

the creator of creation.

A small spoon with a marble stone

at the end of it -

it’s very old and authentic.

Certain people will collect

this kind of thing,

though it’s not worth a lot.

A very attractive fan -

I use to collect them

because when you open them…

This pretty particular one

reminds me of Vanessa.

And postcards -

a painting by Kurt Jackson

of the ocean,

the waves crashing against the shore.

And one by Alfred Wallis -

leaning houses next to a shore

with a background of boats.

But this is the most beautiful -

The Virgin and child

with St Catherine

and a shepherd.

And here’s a small hand-made Christmas card-

someone has put a lot of

time, thought and love into this.

D

 

empty mouth

not sure what to say

not sure what I want to say-

is that it?

always at a loss for words

(remember the poet

bedevilled by them-

words)

words for all occasions

but not for my empty mouth

the speechlessness

of not being sure

what to say or

what I want to say

always at a loss

bedevilled by words

bedevilled by love.

PP

An In and Out of Love Song

We were special people

feeling perfect love,

protected by each other

like a hand inside a glove.

Believing came so easy

when our love was flowing free,

now there’s a wall of darkness

where sunshine used to be.

Loneliness surrounds me

I hear it call my name.

Please don’t play those sad songs

they’ll make me cry again.

V

A Doorway Limerick

Doorway is my favourite drop-in

at twelve-thirty I usually pop in.

I talk to the staff

hang around for a laugh

and I don’t have to do any shopping!

J

How to Haiku

one line of five beats

followed by one of seven

then another five

April cold and wet

making us wonder whether

May may be better.

Broken People Get Recycled / The Bully / Rainbows – Poetry by Liz Brady

Lisa of Doorway was recently e-mailed by Liz Brady, an English teacher and poet in the USA, who had found Doorway in a ‘random on-line search’. She offered us the use of three of her poems, previously published in ‘The Homeless Voice’, of Hollywood, Florida, in the hope that they might ‘uplift’ people. We thank her, and we think they will.

Biographical note (by Liz herself):

“Liz Brady teaches high school English in the U. S.  She enjoys volunteering and believes that powerful words can help people find the will to heal themselves.  Liz uses the power of poetry and writing to connect others and to help them understand that we all have more in common than we think.   She hopes that people will learn to have more compassion for those struggling with illness, depression, poverty and disabilities.  You can contact her to request more poetry of hope and healing at Bradylizann@aol.com”

                                                                  —————

                                                 Broken People Get Recycled

Original photograph by 'iamkatia' of Seattle http://iamkatia.blogspot.com/2007/12/i-recently-spoke-with-ghost-homeless.html

Think you’re garbage
Act like trash
Discarded
Crumpled
Crushed and mashed

Broken people get recycled
No… it’s not too late

Entertainment
Turns addiction
Fantasy
Turns life
To fiction

Broken dreams can be recycled
Don’t fall prey to “fate”

Face your inner rage
Self-loathing
Masked by smiles
Make-up
Clothing

Save yourself before the planet
You’re more than what you hate

Stalk yourself
For treasures buried
Time to lose
The shame
You’ve carried

Tell your self that you deserve
No more inner debate

Your laundered karma
Still will bleed
Even washed on gentle speed
But broken people get recycled
Believe
It’s not
Too late

                                                                      ———–

                                                                    The Bully

There is a little voice inside
A bully
Relentless
Merciless
Cruel

Instead of fighting back
You take it
Believe it
Agree

It is time
For a revolution

When you no longer cower
The berating will stop

You can tell the bully
To go back to hell
You don’t live there anymore

You can give him
Compassion no one ever showed
Heal him with kindness

You can stop reacting
Ignore him until he learns
He’s wasting his time

But you can’t keep encouraging him
Or pretending
You don’t hear him

Harassment will follow you
It will get worse
Will cause destruction
Someone or something will break

Choose a path to healing
Make a plan
Be brave

All public institutions
Implemented anti-bullying policies
Make one
Follow it
Reclaim your power

You deserve the right to be happy
You deserve to right to be at peace
To piece together
What you’ve done right
Where you’ve gone wrong
Who you have hurt
How you can do better

Forgive yourself
Forgive the bully

And for your own sake
Stop beating yourself up

…………………………………………………………————
                                                                     Rainbows     

You hardly ever see full rainbows

Half-rainbows are smile bringers
Unexpected while driving
Light rain clearing
They wink at you
Give you a precious little moment
Make you feel the world is beautiful
Life is a gift

But our eyes rarely absorb the full picture
Like the ones we used to draw as children
Years of pollution
Block the light
Filter the colors
Stop us from seeing the entire spectrum

Perhaps we could take part in that clean-up
The one we’ve been thinking about joining
Work together and find ways to clear pollutants
Detoxify
Cleanse

It’s time to reveal rows of magnificent multi-colored light
Glorious expressions of truth and beauty
Pure radiant energy
Shining through overcast raincloud days
The skies are clearing

We’re all full rainbows

Poems from Doorway SleepOut 2012

As written about elsewhere on this site, on Saturday 28th January 2012, the Doorway Sponsored SleepOut took place. This was timed to take place during Poverty and Homelessness Action Week, the theme for which this year was ‘Breaking Barriers’ – “Our world is filled with barriers between people. Barriers that prevent us from understanding one another. They are created by……..the stigma attached to being poor or homeless”.

In St Andrew’s Churchyard, guests, volunteers, Doorway staff, sponsored sleepers, local dignitaries, ‘ordinary people’, the currently homeless, the previously homeless, those who had narrowly avoided being homeless, and those for whom that shadow has not (yet) crossed their lives, mingled without barriers. And during the SleepOut, there was a service in the Church, including two poems written and read out for the occasion by guest ‘jml10‘, who had also written and read out a poem for the Homelessness Sunday service in 2011.

One of the sponsored sleepers, Mark Urmston of BAE Systems, also wrote a poem, inspired by his experience of ‘sleeping out’ – “In my spell of being awake (around 3:15), I started wondering just how close to the edge we all are and it started to form in to a poem/prayer”.

So, poems from ‘both sides of the barrier’. Poems from two sensitive and expressive human beings. Here are all three.

Winter

by jml10

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You rise up early in the morning

And you haven’t got a hat

The doves are getting thinner

And the crows are getting fat

Gather up belongings

Stuff them in a sack

Creep away to town

Down some forgotten muddy track

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The morning crowd disperses

And you pray that no-one stops

You pilfering sustenance

From round the back of shops

A ghost that haunts the days

Begging for a light

Blurring the wings of a moth

Into one long endless night

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A dull and dreary day

Turning into gloomy dark

Brooding thoughts return

With the starlings in the park

Bundled in the doorway

An uninvited guest

Fists clenched under armpits

Knees drawn to the chest

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A head disappears inside a coat

Like a tortoise in a shell

Who knows his home is heaven

xxxxxxxxBecause homelessness

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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxHELL

            

Lottery

by Mark Urmston

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What if the bed I think of

Was nothing but a dream,

One trip along life’s footpath,

And it’s all washed down the stream.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Instead this box around me,

Became my long term home.

My life in to a rucksack,

Lost my friends, all alone.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The forecast that I’ve watched all week

And joked of scenes of snow

Becomes of life and death to me.

Can you laugh at 10 below?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

What happens to my family

If the money all dried up.

Could we be strong together

Or would the pressure tear us up?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It’s not that hard to get there.

To the box beside the bin

Were all playing a lottery,

And a life is what we win.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Redundancy and lack of jobs

Economy gone to pot

The welfare state on life support

It doesn’t take a lot.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

So as I lay here thinking

In this cardboard box bed

I pray that this is not the way

My life is set to tread

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I pray for all who haven’t got

A bed to call their own

And ask you walk beside them

So they won’t feel so alone.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

And for the lucky ones like me

Who have a place to go,

I pray that in our hearts dear Lord.

You’ll help us all to know

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

That shadows in a doorway

Are people made by you.

All you make are equal

Loving them, we’re loving you.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Doorway (2012)

by jml10

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If your life’s turned upside down

Your fortunes turned around

When the sky is black

And your world is turning blue

There’s no time to hesitate

Stand at the door and wait

Just come on down to Doorway

Come on through

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There you’ve got a place

You’re not just another face

Not just another rebel without a clue.

In a friendly smile you see

Your protected humanity

So come on down to Doorway

Come on through

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

People care about each other

People change, people move

And people do.

Lay aside your schemes

Your long-lost forgotten dreams

And come on down to Doorway

Come on through

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They say that love is wide

It is long and deep and high

It’s here on Earth not just up in the sky.

If you don’t believe me be my guest

And put it to the test

And come on down to Doorway

Come on through