Sending Staff to the USA!

A grant award of £15,000 from the LHF was used to send 6 managers from St Mungo’s Broadway to the USA to study how they tackle homelessness.

The team from St Mungo’s Broadway visited homelessness projects and met key political and community leaders.  Their remit was to see what we can learn from services in the US.

The team decided to go to Portland and San Francisco.  These are two cities with large homeless populations, but they take a very different approach.  San Francisco recently launched a plan to end homelessness in ten years, and Portland has made rough sleeping illegal.   The cities also have a reputation for innovative, specialist services, run by grass roots organisations, including projects for young people, women and people with a dual diagnosis. There is also significant academic work on homelessness in the areas at the University of Oregon, Berkeley, and Stanford Universities and the team were able to meet some of the researchers.

On their return the team wrote a detailed report and gave a presentation to the LHF board.  Discussions are ongoing within St Mungo’s Broadway to see what lessons from the USA can be applied in London.  The Guardian has also published an article looking at the American approach to hoarding and self-help.

Margaret Malcolm is the Acting Director at the LHF.  She said “We know that we can learn a lot from other societies, and our personal development grants are used to send young managers from London to other countries so that we can learn from their good ideas.  The team from St Mungo’s Broadway worked very hard and made the most of their time in the states.  We look forward to seeing how the lessons they learned are applied in London.”

For more information about the USA trip click here

To apply for a personal development grant click here