Manish and Hafod Coach Gwen
Situation: Working to overcome reluctance to engage with Hafod; discovering mental, physical, financial health issues and feelings of isolation
Action: Manish has historically been extremely hard to engage with. They would only communicate sporadically through email, and this was only when rent was late. Coach Gwen had got to a point where a scheduled home visit was required but Manish would often reply via email to avoid Gwen visiting.
Gwen was persistent in supporting communication and managed to get Manish to agree to a home visit. After a good, long chat Gwen found out that Manish struggles with financial, mental, and physical health and is digitally isolated. They don’t have any family or professional support and were only receiving basic benefits.
Between them, Gwen and Manish discussed ways they could maximise the household income and manage money more effectively including Housing benefit being paid directly to Hafod as Manish finds it hard to go out and make payments. Together they are exploring an application for Personal Independence Payments (PIP) to help with living costs; Discretionary Housing Payments for arrears-outcomes from this work are to be confirmed. Manish agreed to be referred to Vale Supporting People for support with mental health, and they now have been allocated a support worker.
Gwen also utilised Hafod’s Side by Side Hubbub project and supplied Manish with a new phone with data package to help them to stay connected with their friends to further support their mental health.
Outcome: Manish doesn’t feel as alone, they are engaged with Hafod and knows we are here to support and connect with them if needed. Going forward, this will help with reducing the burden on statutory health services by working proactively and collaboratively with community services to reduce the risk of conditions becoming worse or reaching crisis point.
In future, Gwen hopes that if an application for PIP has been successful, there will be an improvement in Manish's finances, and they will be able to access transport more readily. Gwen has discussed connecting with community groups.
Once support commences with the support worker, Manish may also gain some help with their mental health struggles. Gwen is regularly checking in with the tenant and continuing to support with income maximisation.