If you are aged between 16 and 25  years and have become homeless today please visit any of the following agencies  in the Mendip area and they will refer you to our emergency accommodation scheme:

Council Access  Points, CAB's offices, Social Services, Connect South West, Routes Mendip YMCA or Mendip District Council.

Mendip YMCA can help with emergency accommodation for homeless 16 to 25 year olds.

Our emergency accommodation scheme provides up to 7 nights accommodation in a family home  The accommodation is vetted by the YMCA to check that it is of a good standard.

The young person is provided with a safe, secure place to stay overnight and one hot meal a day.

A YMCA Support Worker will give as much help and advice as is possible, to the young person, to enable them to find somewhere permanent to live.

How does the scheme work?

Young people are referred to the scheme by local agencies such as Childrens Social Care (Social Services), Citizen Advice Bureau, Mendip District Council, Connect South West, colleges etc. We try to gain as much information about each person so that we are able to make an informed decision about whether emergency accommodation is appropriate or not. We then ring accommodation providers to allocate a placement for that person. If there is a vacancy a staff member will drive the young person to the accommodation, introduce them to the landlord/lady and settle them in.

Each person is supported during their stay with our host families by a YMCA worker. A great deal of advocacy work is carried out with other agencies to effect a return home or a supportive passage to independent accommodation.

Accommodation Providers

The staff team also supports accommodation providers during each person’s stay. Contact is made each day to ensure that the placement is proceeding satisfactorily and that there are no problems.