Interview: Rosie Phillips on 25 Years at DHI

Tell us a little bit about yourself—where you were born and grew up, your earlier years before DHI.

I was born in Hemel Hempstead. My Dad was a civil engineer and my parents moved a lot with the family early on till they settled in Sutton Coldfield, which is where I went to school. After school, I went to Durham University where I studied Politics, and from there to London to work in public relations.

This is when the issue of homelessness really hit me. In 1990 during the financial crash my daily walk to work took me down Cricklewood Broadway past crowds of disadvantaged Irish men whose lives had unravelled after losing jobs in the building industry. Homelessness and alcoholism spread rapidly as these, mostly single, men became entrenched in life on the streets. I began volunteering at a community homelessness centre at weekends, before gaining employment there, providing food and clothing and helping people to find accommodation.

Seven years later I had the opportunity to set up a dry house with the Drugs and Homeless Initiative (DHI) in Bath, which I felt offered the opportunity to address the linked problems of homelessness and substance misuse rather than just putting a sticking plaster over a single issue. The need to tackle the complex, pervasive issues underlying homelessness and a multitude of other disadvantages, led me to establish DHI as a social exclusion charity in 1999. Twenty-five years later, homelessness continues to present a barrier to people leading fulfilling lives.

Bath has a reputation as a tourist attraction and a lovely place to live, does it really need DHI?

Bath is a beautiful city, but regardless of the façade it has all the problems of any other modern city, with the added problems caused by a lack of affordable housing. Many of our clients simply cannot afford to live in Bath. Perversely, those with the least income end up furthest from support services they need—and spend more in accessing them.

Lots of us want to see a better world, but not all of us have the gumption to stick at it as long as you… What drives you?

I believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to achieve their potential, yet not everyone has the same chance. Society and circumstances can conspire against people, and we all make mistakes. I truly believe in giving people support to get things on track and get on with their life.

I love seeing people gain their sense of place in the world, their self esteem. I am also a tenacious pragmatist and don’t take no for an answer easily. The bigger the challenge, the more driven I feel!

“Many a flower is born to blush unseen” is a line I remember from my O-Level days. It is from Gray’s Elegy and is a metaphor for wasted lives for me. At the risk of sounding both sentimental and pretentious, this line stuck with me for a reason. I think everyone is a flower waiting to bloom!!!

It’s officially the 25th anniversary of DHI as a standalone charity, but for a couple of years before that you were part of Bath Self Help Housing Association. What do you remember of those first early days with BSHHA and what made you later take the leap into independence?

Self Help was very much part of BSHHA’s DNA. Over time it became apparent that DHI would thrive better outside the structure of a housing association and Kevin Armstrong, its then CEO, supported me to get Board approval to leave and set up as an independent charity

I recently discovered that BSHHA had spawned from Bristol Self Help, who celebrate their 50th anniversary this year. Both have links with the squatters movement. I like that, as I like the link to mutual aid and peers. That has always been an important part of DHI to me—equipping people with the tools to self manage. I would like to write an article if I ever have time, about anarchy, peers and the self help movement! There is a particularly strong link to this in the South West with the dissenter movement….

I think it is really important to provide just enough support to allow people to flourish. There is a skill to this and to ensuring we don’t create greater dependencies through our support.

Did you ever imagine that DHI would expand as far as it has geographically?

No but we grew gradually, where there was a need. Now we have services across Wiltshire, BANES, South Gloucestershire and Bristol.

How many people do you think DHI has helped turn around their lives since 1999?

200,000? I’ve no idea to be honest!

What about the people you work with? How many are there now, and what are they like?

This year we worked with around 18,000 people, not counting our school work, where we deliver drugs and alcohol education.

I love the variety involved working in a charity like DHI, as we work across a wide range of client groups, tackling many different issues that exclude people, including discrimination and lack of opportunity.

This makes the job endlessly interesting and challenging.

I’m sure you don’t do favourites, but are there particular cases that stand out to you? Tell us the story of one or two…

I call this the wheelchair case study. It is from a long time ago.

A lady was referred by a social worker with complex needs including alcohol misuse and health issues to our Floating Support team (Reach). The social worker wanted the DHI worker to support the lady with a rent repayment plan as she was threatened with eviction. When the worker went to see the lady to assess her he found she was living in a first floor flat, and was unable to use the stairs or go out of the house. The worker focussed first on getting her a housing transfer and arranged for a motorised wheelchair. The drinking continued, and after a while he discovered that after years stuck in a first floor flat, she was agoraphobic. So he hired himself a motorised wheelchair, turned up at her flat one day and spent the day out with her, ending at an AA meeting. The drinking stopped. The point here is that if he had worked with the label, he could have spent years trying to support her to reduce an alcohol problem, which was in effect a crutch for the social isolation she was faced with as a result of her disability. By seeing her as a person and treating her, not the label, and working creatively, he was very effective in supporting her to lead a more fulfilling life.

Was housing provision always part of the remit, or did that just become something you felt was needed?

Drug and alcohol treatment is a big part of our work as it is such a common response to human pain and suffering, and so available, yet DHI’s roots are in housing too. Stall Street supported ‘dry house’ was the first project of DHI. It was a 7-bed supported housing project, and the mutual support residents gave each other was really inspiring.

I believe everyone needs a safe space to call home. Lack of affordable housing creates inequality, stress and ill health. It increases the pressure on our precious public services when we can ill afford to do so.

What makes you proudest from the last 25 years?

When I meet people sometimes it can be quite overwhelming how much they feel DHI has had an impact in their lives or the life of their loved ones. I am not sure the feeling is pride though.

It seems like quite a few are people who once needed DHI’s support end up working with you to support others—tell us why that is important to you.

Having a sense of purpose, being able to earn a wage, moving on from DHI, this matters. A significant proportion of our clients struggle to get a job because of their past and because many lack self esteem. By becoming a peer and getting an NVQ they are in a much better position to move into paid employment whether that’s with DHI or any other employee.

People that have been through our services move into all sorts of paid work too. Many want to give back, and have a real sense of civic duty.

I know ex-DHI clients working in the media, criminal justice services, at Curo, Julian House, and many places besides, as well, of course, at DHI.

People can and do turn their lives around. It’s important people know that, as having that belief makes change more possible.

You’ve seen many other initiatives come and go over the years, which ones have you particularly admired (if any), and why?

I love floating support services. Reach in Bath & North East Somerset is one of very few left whereas 20 years ago it was a big thing across the UK. I love the person centredness of it. I don’t often rave about this kind of thing, but it had a very outcomes based Quality Framework. Staff funded through Supporting People could do anything in supporting clients as long as it promoted independence……and this is a principle I believe in. That’s why I remember the wheelchair lady—it was the workers initiative and the principle of promoting independence.

What practical steps do you think the new government should take to help tackle social exclusion?

It is no easy job, but we must tackle the housing situation that excludes or marginalises so many.

It also needs to be brave and look at health, housing and social care as part in a system.

Outside of work what are your passions? Do you have any time for them?

I am very busy outside of work as it's important to have some balance. I sing with the tenors in Horizon’s Choir, which feels like a real privilege. I love walking—but mostly it’s just walking the dog between the job and the child taxi service. I was akela at Bathampton Cubs for a couple of years, which was exhausting but really rewarding. I’ve recently had some swimming lessons which has transformed my swimming experience.

What are the next steps for DHI?

Developing the Peer Academy—where we train people to use their lived experience to support others, and getting some core funding so we are not scratting around to keep it going. Also we are developing our online services, so we can deliver services more effectively. Not everyone needs to come into one of our centres and the more we can support people who can help themselves, the more time we have to work with those who need more intensive support.

What can a reader do to help support the vital work of DHI?

Make sure your local councillor learns about our work and the people we help. We are also extremely grateful for voluntary donations, which enable us to respond to emerging needs in our communities which may fall outside our contracted services. As a social exclusion charity, we break down barriers to support and ensure that we are reaching people who may not fit into a defined label, treating the whole person, whatever their needs. Donations also enable us to mitigate increasing demand for intensive treatment and support by investing in our digital and peer services, to engage more people upstream of a crisis occurring.

Interview conducted by Steve Faragher.

To view DHI's portraits project, click here.