The fantastic team at Civitas Investment Management have partnered with us to bring you Care Home Open Week! The team have been fantastic supporting us in the lead up to the event and we know they can’t wait to virtually visit some homes in the coming week!
At Civitas we believe it’s essential for the most vulnerable people in society to have the opportunity to live in a high quality home with appropriate support and in their community. We invest to tackle the extreme housing shortage across the UK for vulnerable people, to keep them safe and part of a community. Until quite recently people with severe learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders or Down Syndrome were often institutionalised in a hospital setting on large wards along with many people struggling with a range of other disabilities, living in a setting unsuitable for their care needs. This was not only an extremely unpleasant way to live, but it was also often detrimental to the person’s mental health and could exacerbate one’s disability. Long-term institutionalisation limits a human being’s potential to live a full, happy and healthy life within their individual capabilities and preferences. Civitas invests in high quality, specially adapted homes, with professional care packages, enabling people to live life as fully and independently as they are able.
Being vulnerable doesn’t always mean you have complex needs. Entrenched homelessness is also detrimental to a person’s wellbeing, and addressing this is another area of investment focus for us. Throughout the pandemic hundreds of homeless people were on the streets across the UK, struggling more than ever to get food and basic necessities. We responded to Islington Council’s request for help and opened an unused, recently refurbished premise in Islington to house London’s homeless and help them through the pandemic and in their life beyond.
As CEO of Social Housing at Civitas Investment Management, I am proud that we provide such high quality, specially adapted homes in communities for vulnerable people, no matter if they have complex disabilities, are old and vulnerable or homeless. We work with care providers and housing associations across the country who day in day out provide excellent care.
We believe everyone has a right to a home with care that they need within a community based setting that enhances their lives and the others around them.
Transformational for me as someone who has worked in social housing for 30 years was the opportunity to meet people who with the support of our investors and partners have been able to improve their lives. From Vikki who for the first time in 20 years was able to have her own candles on her birthday cake to Mark who hadn’t spoken for 10 years and is now starting to speak again there are thousands of moving stories. It’s such a privilege to hear them and be part of helping others to benefit.
