by Emily Goddard, November 2021
If you’ve been raised in the care system, it can be almost impossible to find a guarantor for a rental property. Mary-anne Hodd is changing that.
There is a solution to the problems care leavers face when trying to move into independent rented accommodation, Hodd says. The idea came to her when she was struggling with the issue in 2015. She was volunteering for the council when an MP put the situation into perspective for her. “He said to me, ‘We’re your corporate parents, we should be doing everything for you that your parents could or would have if they were in a position to do so.’ That was it: the lightbulb went off,” she says.
Read this important item and about the Guarantor scheme in full at…
Vice Newsletter source: The Woman Fighting for Care Leavers’ Right to Housing
Making Home Home 
One response to “The Woman Fighting for Care Leavers’ Right to Housing”
Kevin Gallagher commented on your post on LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-gallagher-4a3a6428/
“Another example of the cliff edge of disadvantage faced by young adults transitioning from care towards greater independence. I personally supported our young care leaver/ maintenance apprentice recently when he had no real external support for the administration of accessing a tenancy, being a guarantor and providing reference and funding.
I had mum and dad to help in these pinch points – he doesn’t have that, so someone needed to step up and be there for him. He’s in, settled and repaid the monies in our agreed schedule, without issue.
We have some interesting chats at times, explicit about the different boundaries of when I speak to him as his employer, and when there is a more relational/ support, pseudo-parental role of advice, guidance and yes, sometimes, bailing out.
Its helping him take up his place in the world independently, but accepting that you don’t do this all at once just because you turn 18! And managing that support by acknowledging explicitly the unusual ‘shape’ to our relationship and how this has changed over time.
I’m not a biological dad to anyone, but its fascinating to experience and reflect on these ‘dad’ type situations which historically I only experienced from the other side” 🙂
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