This men’s health week, we’re talking about the NEED for healthcare within homeless support to remove the barriers keeping people from securing a home of their own.

62% of all single adults who find themselves homeless in the UK are men. Those without a home are also severely more likely to suffer with a mental or physical health problem. Often people who have been homeless find it hard to trust people wanting to help them because they’ve been let down many times before.

When you combine this with toxic masculinity; men who feel like they’re unable to ask for help, because they feel it makes them feel “less of a man”. You can see why it leads to unnecessary suffering for men without a home.

Customer John* is part of our Destination:Home service. It provides support and accommodation across Stoke-on-Trent to people without a home. The five partners Concrete, Adullam Homes Housing Association, North Staffs Mind, Changes: Health and Wellbeing and WALK Ministries, work together to provide accommodation and tailored support packages drawing on aspects from each partner when it’s needed.

John* recently moved into our shared accommodation after living on the streets. He was struggling with his self-esteem and his health. He had chronic wounds that desperately needed to be treated. But didn’t feel he could trust the homeless healthcare practitioners, a vital service for our customers.

It was only when his friends and fellow customers Jamie* and Allen* attended that he started to warm up to the idea.

Both of his friends had chronic healthcare issues that needed dealing with. They both started attending regularly and saw a fast improvement. They were no longer in pain, they felt better about themselves and were starting to make healthier decisions.

John* saw this change and after some encouragement from his friends, decided to give it a go.

He is now helping himself towards more concrete futures, by removing the barriers, like healthcare, that were stopping him from not just living independently but thriving!

Find out more about our Destination: Home service here: http://thisisconcrete.org.uk/destination-home/