In Manchester the battle to combat the homelessness crisis has been taken to heart by thousands of people.
From the leadership of Manchester City Council to community volunteers the swell of support has been inspirational as residents and local organisations band together to help those in need.
One such organisation is Reach Out To the Community. Founded in 2016 the charity acts as a hub for the homeless community in Chorlton, working with the council and the Manchester Homelessness Partnership to help people sleeping rough or who are homeless in the area.
Its co-founder, Stephanie Moore, explains: “Reach Out To the Community was founded in 2016. We work with people sleeping rough in the south Manchester area to help them engage with services to help them move away from a life on the streets.”
Starting out working on the streets of Chorlton the opportunity arose for the charity to move into a vacant shop on Wilbraham Road. As a result of this, they were able to open a charity shop which helps fund their work, as well as give the cause of helping the homeless a visible presence in the community.
Stephanie continued: “When we set up Reach Out we didn’t have a plan we didn’t plan to open a charity shop, we just saw an increase in homelessness and it’s just evolved with the need.
“We opened the shop to help sustain the project. Anybody sleeping rough can come into the shop, they can get something to eat, drink, someone comes in to help with benefits advice, the shop can be used as a care of address, to charge phones, just to chat. We’ve even had some people who have been sleeping rough come into volunteer as well.”
To find out more about Reach Out To the Community and how you can help make a difference, search for them on Facebook or email reachoutcommunity@yahoo.com .
