"You've given me such peace of mind, thank you from the bottom of my heart"
A resident who escaped domestic abuse had to move to a new home, in a different county and was experiencing severe mental health problems. The resident felt distressed and found it difficult to communicate with strangers and to manage any tasks.
The Tenancy Sustainment Officer at Hightown recognised that it was important to build rapport and trust with the resident to help her to feel comfortable talking to us.
The house move triggered a need for the resident to apply for Universal Credit and we supported her with her claim by ensuring that she also claimed the severe disability premium transitional element.
The resident was supported with budgeting exercises which helped her to move from a deficit budget to a surplus budget. We explored grants and the resident was successfully supported to clear her rent arrears.
We also requested a back dated payment for the first month of her Universal Credit payment which was unfortunately declined. We helped the resident to appeal this decision at a tribunal and she was awarded a backdated payment that enabled her to put her rent account into credit and pay for furniture for her home.
We referred the resident for mental health and befriending services, and she continues to engage with them on an ongoing basis.
She told us: “You've given me such peace of mind, thank you from the bottom of my heart”
