Coral Porter has been working in Mount Green’s Income Team since December. It’s her job to support residents by offering advice and assistance for any queries they might have – with things like charity applications, general housing support and pensions. She was recently able to work with a resident whose home had been affected by water damage and needed help to restore her property.
This resident was brought to Coral’s attention by Christine, our housing services manager, as she had experienced flooding in her home, caused by a leak in a neighbouring property. The water had unfortunately caused extensive damage and destruction of the residents’ possessions, which she was understandably distressed about. The resident was moved into temporary accommodation with her child while her new property was being repaired and prepared for her return.
Hear from Coral below on her experience of securing funding for the resident…
Hardship Grant from Longleigh Foundation
“I started looking into lots of different organisations that could potentially help the resident with funding so that she could replace some of the belongings she’d lost due to the flood. I tried applying for various grants, but the applications were declined. However, as Mount Green is now part of the Stonewater Group, I realised (following introductions) that the resident could be eligible for a grant from Longleigh ,a compassionate grant-making foundation set up by Stonewater, to help improve the wellbeing of social housing residents.
“I spoke with the resident to identify the essential items she needed and applied for a Longleigh Hardship grant. We requested a range of items for the resident to make sure her new home was well equipped and cosy for her and her child. I put in a request for furniture, a voucher towards smaller home items (like bedding and curtains) and for items for the little one, like toys and books.
“The application process was self-explanatory and Manjeev, Longleigh’s Individual Grants Manager, was able to help me with the application by explaining what the resident would be entitled to and answering any questions I had. I gathered evidence and reports from our property services team to submit with the application, which was straightforward, and the process didn’t take long; important as we wanted the resident to have the items in time for her being able to return home.”
A home for the future
“We were so pleased I was able to secure £2,500 so that the resident could secure all the items we’d asked for. It was really gratifying to be able to help her – she had a lot to deal with in terms of looking after her family and wouldn’t have been able to get her hands on the new things she needed by herself. The resident has been able to move into her new home and was over the moon with the property.
“I was pleased that I’d been able to help the resident during her time of need and make use of this new funding stream that’s available to all our residents – being able to offer support to them through difficult times is really rewarding and why I love my role.”