Kouame is one of our First Response volunteers in Westminster. First Response teams receive alerts from the public about the locations where people are sleeping rough. The teams then provide extra information to outreach teams, confirming that people are still there and what kind of help they might need.
Here, Kouame shares his experience of St Mungo’s, both as someone who was supported by us, and now as someone who volunteers with the First Response team.
I started to volunteer with First Response in July 2022 and it’s been very good for me. I’ve been learning new things. I used to volunteer many years ago with a Church organisation in South London. Their way of doing it was a bit different to St Mungo’s, as people would come to them for support. I prefer going to people who are rough sleeping to offer support because sometimes it’s not easy for some people to go to particular places. I prefer the way that the St Mungo’s outreach and First Response team does it.
I used to be homeless a few years ago and I was supported by St Mungo’s until last year when I moved into my own flat. I was still living in St Mungo’s accommodation when I applied to volunteer with First Response. St Mungo’s was everything when I was homeless, they helped me with every aspect of my life and I said to myself that I would like to give back.
When I was in their accommodation, St Mungo’s helped me with absolutely everything. It was like my home. It was so welcoming, St Mungo’s was my family and it still is. Every single thing was done by the team, from lawyers to accommodation to food, clothing, everything.
On a typical day I go to the Westminster Outreach Office to start my shift. The team are very welcoming and tell you to feel free to get yourself a drink and relax. If the other volunteer is already there, you take the time to introduce yourself and share the experiences that we already have. Then we look at the referrals list and try to arrange them in way that would be easiest for us to go through and look for people.
We can then send some feedback to the Outreach Team by text messages or sometimes by calling them. Very often we get the right guidance of what to do and I find it very helpful to speak to the Outreach Team in this way. For instance, we would tell the Outreach Team that it would be fine to call this client because we believe they need support.
If you want to be a good volunteer, you need to be good at listening to people and not assuming anything. As humans we assume a lot of things but there are so many different situations that bring people into homelessness and I have seen people from all different backgrounds. But the average person when seeing people who are sleeping rough might put everybody in the same boat like, “oh they’re just lazy and don’t want to work” and pass them by. So they need people like the Outreach Team to try to talk to them.
I believe that First Response is a very interesting volunteering experience for anyone aspiring to be a part of the Outreach Team or who wants to work with people experiencing homelessness in the future. It’s something that I would recommend to anyone who is willing to join as a volunteer, First Response is a great place to start.