The biggest chance we will probably ever get
I recall very clearly a few weeks ago when we first faced up to the stark realisation of what Covid19 might mean for the people Changing Lives works with, people experiencing the most challenging of circumstances, including homelessness, addiction, domestic abuse, sexual exploitation, long-term unemployment and contact with the criminal justice system.
We know that poverty and homelessness have a devastating impact on health and so make people more vulnerable to the virus. More than this, there is a real disparity in how people can cope with social distancing and self-isolation, and this is never more extreme for people who do not have a home or a family.
While there is much discussion in the media about the positive and surprising consequences of lock down - a new community spirit, lower pollution and the re-emergence of wildlife, this is only reality for a few in the most luxurious positions. Once we can venture out of our closed doors I believe that a light will shine on the shocking inequality that has always existed and is being significantly exacerbated under these conditions.
Connection and belonging is so important to all of us. For people in recovery, leaving prison, or escaping abuse, many of whom have past experiences of rejection and trauma, rebuilding a sense of community and positive connection is a life-line. For most of us, we can continue this connection albeit at a distance, but many people we support do not have access to phones, data or Wi-Fi; they do not have Netflix or even a TV or radio. Social isolation is unimaginable under these circumstances.
What I see across the sector from grass roots groups to larger organisations like Changing Lives, is the fact that - in all our diversity – we are most in-tune and able to adapt to rapidly emerging needs. Much has been done to meet people’s immediate needs. In most areas we have managed to find accommodation for everyone who was previously rough sleeping. Our teams have responded by radically changing the way we work – providing phones, delivering food and medication, delivering virtual group work programmes, and much more. We have found additional accommodation for women and children fleeing domestic abuse and our teams have reached out to the increasing number of women selling sex on street to meet basic health and welfare needs. Our teams have been outstanding in their compassion and pragmatism.
Responses to Covid19 have in many instances been led by front-line staff, rapidly identifying needs and reaching out across the organisation and local partnerships to solve problems. Like so many who are keeping us safe and producing essential goods and services, these members of our workforce were recently described as ‘low-skilled’ by members of our government.
What we see is that power dynamics are shifting and it is front-line staff who have become the solution for local authorities, police and health partners. Our teams have stepped up, innovated and their creativity has changed systems and structures overnight. Our staff have felt able to take control now they are free from constraints of contractual terms and performance metrics. This does not happen by chance; Changing Lives’ has strong, people-centred values and we have worked hard for the past few years to create conditions where people have autonomy and responsibility, which has supported our teams agile response to the emerging situation.
Hierarchical power seems to be (possibly temporarily) eroding as commissioners are acting as ‘system stewards’, asking what is needed and trying to bring together partners to problem solve, rather than controlling from afar through KPIs and reporting. The people right now with the power are those who are directly working with people affected and have immediate and up to date knowledge about what is happening and what helps. We see this across the public, private and voluntary sector.
We need to be careful when we talk about this phenomenon - and more widely about the compassion which has grown in our neighbourhoods - that we do not romanticise a situation that denies a harsh but invisible reality for many people. But we do have the biggest chance we will probably ever get to build on this newly emerging way of thinking and working together. We must resist pressure to return to the safety of a system that was predictable and familiar, but was not working well. Whilst healthcare and meeting people’s immediate basic needs is obviously imperative, we must not take our eye off what this crisis has shown us about the entrenched practices that do and don’t work for people, and imagine what new could look like.
Laura Seebohm is Executive Director at northern charity Changing Lives, leading innovation and policy across the organisation. Her role is to raise the voices of the people the charity supports with experience of homelessness, addiction, abuse and exploitation with partners across the voluntary, public and private sectors and government. She has over 20 years’ experience in the statutory and voluntary sectors working as a Probation Officer before joining Changing Lives in 2006. She is a trustee on the boards of Millfield House Foundation and 1772 Debtor’s Relief Charity. She has also been Visiting Fellow of University of East Anglia following research into sex work and sexual exploitation.
