At Barnabus, we work closely with the prison service and related organisations to support people who have been – or are just about to be released from – prison. Whether they’ve lost touch with family and friends or are unable to organise it themselves, many people leave prison without a fixed address or accommodation plans.

Going straight into homelessness is a damaging transition, often leading to reoffending, breaking probation, and returning to prison. That’s why we help to prevent this, meeting with inmates who are soon to be released but have no home to go to. We also partner with accommodation services to give them the best chance at rebuilding their lives upon release.

 

Life after time behind bars

Just one example of this work involves Paul*, whose partner had tragically passed away while he was in custody. Suffering such a massive loss in a place where he couldn’t grieve properly, as well as not being able to attend the funeral, was very traumatic. It also posed a massive problem for his future upon release: he was renting a home with his partner, so was going to leave prison with no fixed address.

We came with a few options for Paul to choose from and were luckily able to get him into Homes of Hope, which we believe offers the correct level of support and will help him move on to independent living. They’ll also collect Paul from prison and take him to his new accommodation.

 

Tackling the issue before it becomes a problem

We were delighted to be able to offer our friend their best chance at overcoming their grief and rebuilding their life outside of prison. We hope that, through the support offered by Homes of Hope, they’ll soon move on to living in their own home – and that together we have prevented someone from the trauma of homelessness.

*Name has been changed to protect our friend’s identity