I like this post very much
When I was homeless, I was sent into a hostel. This one went in stages:

1) Stage 1 was where you landed. In it, you paid £12 a week, if you were on benefits, for 3 meals a day, bedding washed and somebody on site for counselling. If you were on drugs, you were immediately signed up for drugs support. Problem with this is you would go into the loos and find needles, also there was a murder when I was there, and so much violence. Visitors were allowed between 9 and 5.

2) Stage 2 was where you shared a flat (on site) with 5 other people. There were 2 toilets, one shower room, and in your room was a fridge and somewhere to plug in a kettle and your telly and stuff. In this stage, they looked into work training, education and life skills, such as a weekly cookery class held in your flat. Visitors allowed between 9 and 8. I was quickly moved into here, after 2 weeks.

3) If you had gone through stage 2 and deemed 'able to fit into society', then you were given your own flat on site. There were about 12 flats on site, and you had everything you needed. When in here, you were encouraged to get stuff like a TV, a kettle, and other things you may need. You would also be bumped up the housing list to get a place off-site. You could have visitors whenever you wanted, and a seperate entrance. You also got a furniture grant, so you could decorate your new home.

I never got to this stage as I moved down south, but I have a few friends in there. One of them was helped to get a government grant to start up his gardening business. They paid for a van and tools for him.
( Methylene Blue - electrohead, Tue 7 Jul 2009, 0:34, Reply)