The Council's service supporting people with drug and alcohol use into recovery is Change, Grow, Live Waltham Forest. We spoke to Corey, Team Leader of the Rough Sleeper Drug and Alcohol Team, to find out more about his work.
“My team’s priority is to make drug and alcohol treatment readily available to the rough sleeper population of Waltham Forest. These members of our community often have complex needs. They can find there are barriers to accessing public services, like ours: our job is to remove these barriers.
“When we work with people in the rough sleeper community, we work with them as a whole person, recognising they might have a lot of complex needs and that someone’s trauma can have a negative impact on them. We meet people where they’re at: much of our time is spent on the street, doing what we call assertive outreach.
“We know the borough and the rough sleeper community really well, and they’ve come to know us too. We support this community in getting their needs assessed, which helps give access to important things like life-saving health interventions, blood-borne virus testing and treatment, harm minimisation services, psychosocial treatment, and referrals to other public services, including teams that help with housing.
“Our philosophy is to make all of that always available at street level, week in, week out, throughout the year, rain or shine.
“I love what I do. My whole team does. We’ve seen people make the transition from addiction on the street to recovery and a life transformed. We’re always there for those struggling with drug and alcohol use on the streets of Waltham Forest.”
Find more information about Corey's organisation and its work on the Change, Grow, Live Waltham Forest website. You can also find more information about the Council's plan to reduce the harms caused by drugs and alcohol misuse to individuals, families and communities in Waltham Forest on the Protecting Communities page.
