If there’s anyone well-placed to speak on how homelessness has evolved in the last 10 years, it’s Simon on the Streets’ operations manager, Tracey Ellerton. Tracey joined Simon on the Streets 10 years ago as a member of the outreach team. She’s been an integral part of our growing team ever since.
We thought, what better way to celebrate 10 years of Tracey than to sit down for a quick Q&A?
When you first started with Simon on the Streets, what made you think ‘this is what I’m supposed to be doing?’
“When I first joined the Simon on the Streets team, I was at a bit of a personal crossroads. I’d left a career in recruitment to bring up my kids, and once they were older, I was ready for something new. Through a friend, I started doing some volunteering for a local homelessness charity in Leeds. I just loved it. I loved working with people, I loved being out in the community.
But nothing could have prepared me for the first time I was out on outreach on my own once I got the job with Simon on the Streets. I was so green and naive about what the realities of homelessness really were, even after my volunteering.
I thought it would be a case of ‘well, we’ll just get everyone housed’ or ‘well, we’ll get everyone who wants to quit drugs off drugs’. It’s crazy to think back to that time.
I knew I had a lot to learn, but I knew I was in the right place working in the community.”
What’s changed the most about homelessness in the last 10 years?
Cuts to services
“One of the biggest things is the number of cuts to local services – drug and alcohol services, hostels, housing providers, you name it. But the number of people experiencing homelessness is the highest it’s ever been. This is causing a huge bottleneck, and it’s services like ours that are having to step in and support more people with fewer services to lean on.
When I first got started, I remember you could call up an emergency hostel and generally get somebody in that night, if not, maybe one or two days later. If I needed to refer someone to a drug or alcohol service, they’d be processed almost straight away. These days, that almost never happens.
We’re lucky that we have amazing relationships with other services in the area, but the fact of the matter is there aren’t enough of us to meet demand.”
Availability of drugs and alcohol
“The rise of synthetic drugs has completely changed the landscape. It’s never been easier to get hold of substances on the streets. This has led to a huge increase in long-term addictions, cuckooing (people’s properties being taken over by drug dealers and/or gangs and then being exploited) and ‘county lines’.
Our team now works a lot more heavily in the world of drug and alcohol recovery as a result.”
Hidden homelessness
“I don’t know if it’s that more women are experiencing homelessness than 10 years ago, but they’re definitely more visible. I think in the past, they were the ones in the ‘hidden homelessness’ category where they would stay with strangers, or even in drug dens. I always knew there were women going through it, but you rarely saw them out on the streets.
Nowadays, we’re being approached by more women when we’re on outreach. They’ve got to know our faces and feel like they can initiate those early conversations to ask for help.
Hidden homelessness in general has become a lot more common. Back when I started, we worked mostly with really entrenched rough sleepers. I’m talking about people who were completely disengaged from services.
These days, I’ve never seen us work with more students, working people or people sleeping on sofas or in their cars. It becomes a challenging situation because these people often don’t meet council criteria for emergency accommodation. We’re constantly having to push within the local authorities to be able to help people.”
Economic changes
“The changing governments and Covid have been some of the biggest upheavals I’ve seen in the last 10 years. There have been so many changes to welfare payments (like Universal Credit and PIP) that have forced people to experience homelessness for the first time.
The lasting effects of Covid (physical and mental) and the cost of living crisis have also had a life-changing impact on so many people. These are major factors that can easily drive people to a breaking point.”
What’s something people get wrong about homelessness that you see differently because of the work you do?
“Just how quickly it can happen to you.
We recently met a young guy who went from working, living in accommodation provided by his employer, to living in his car with nothing within the space of two months. Losing his job quite literally ripped the carpet out from under his feet. He had no petrol left in his car, no food, no support system.
He’s one of many with similar stories. It really can be that quick, and I hope more people realise just how precarious the current climate is.”
Is there a particular success story that you still think about today?
“When you do what we do, you have to take the small wins during a person’s journey.
But I do remember one woman we worked with who was so entrenched in rough sleeping; I’m talking years and years. By the time we found her, she had severe gangrene in both feet and was in a very bad way.
It took a while, but we were able to get her the right medical treatment. Unfortunately, doctors couldn’t save her legs, and she had to have them amputated. But it was the first step towards her getting her life back.
She’s been safely housed in a care home for some years now. She’s looked after, supported, and she’s happy, and that’s all any of us can ask for.”
What keeps the fire in your belly after 10 years?
“For me, it’s being able to play a part in someone building a new future for themselves. Whether that’s through my outreach work in the past, or now as operations manager. Managing the current team and seeing what they’re able to achieve in the community brings me a lot of satisfaction.
We’re all passionate about what we do, and it shows. Even when the ideal outcome isn’t possible, this team works their socks off to make sure people are cared for and supported when they’re experiencing homelessness.”
If you’d like to ensure our future is secured for another 10 years, you can donate here, or talk to us about corporate sponsorship opportunities now.