Enabling your church to help the needy |
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Grace Advocacy is a registered charity that enables churches to help those in need.
Does your church battle to offer practical help to those in need? Grace Advocacy provides church volunteers with the necessary training, systems and software to advocate and assist those in need. Grace Advocacy currently has multiple successful teams operating from church premises and from home.
Your donation helps in the areas of homelessness, debt, income, housing, health care, disability and social care.
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We spend an average of 36 hours per client per annum because we don't just aim to deal with the presenting need, but multiple related issues. We help in the following areas: homelessness, debt, income, housing, health care, disability and social care.
A holistic approach ensures your church really makes an impact on your community. |
a client's story
Unable to find help, plunged into debt and facing destitution and homelessness due a clerical error
Sue * a carer who had difficulty reading and writing faced destitution and homelessness after a clerical error by the Department of Works and Pension (DWP) resulted in the suspension of the government benefits on which relied upon to feed her family and pay her rent.
The government also claimed that she now owed them money and began recovery proceedings. Compounding matters, Sue's marriage had recently broken down and she was now the sole carer of an adult child with mental health needs.
Sue's landlord began eviction proceedings and the local authority, believing that Sue was no longer on benefits, demanded that she pay Council Tax.
The complexity of her situation meant that Sue couldn't find an agency that was able to give her the time needed to unravel her crisis.
Faced with demands from multiple organisations and letters that she was unable to understand, Sue's mental health plummeted.
Sue eventually heard of Grace Advocacy from her local Carers Association and sought out our help.
Bureaucratic incompetence and indifference
Grace Advocacy began by writing to Sue’s housing association and local authority explaining her situation and asking them to suspend eviction and recovery action.
We then helped Sue gather the required evidence from her employers and visited the local DWP. Despite this visit, the evidence failed to reach the relevant department in the DWP.
In order to try progress matters, we helped Sue lodge a complaint with the local DWP office.
When that failed to trigger action, we helped Sue lodge a complaint against the DWP Processing Office in Belfast.
This complaint triggered a request for an additional form to be filled in and further evidence to be provided – even though the DWP already had this evidence on file.
We helped Sue complete the necessary form and submit it, only to be told that she had been provided with the wrong form and that a different form was required. Despite Sue being at her wits end, we helped her complete and submit the new form.
The outcome
Four months after they had been suspended, Sue's benefits were reactivated and back paid.
As a result:
Sue * a carer who had difficulty reading and writing faced destitution and homelessness after a clerical error by the Department of Works and Pension (DWP) resulted in the suspension of the government benefits on which relied upon to feed her family and pay her rent.
The government also claimed that she now owed them money and began recovery proceedings. Compounding matters, Sue's marriage had recently broken down and she was now the sole carer of an adult child with mental health needs.
Sue's landlord began eviction proceedings and the local authority, believing that Sue was no longer on benefits, demanded that she pay Council Tax.
The complexity of her situation meant that Sue couldn't find an agency that was able to give her the time needed to unravel her crisis.
Faced with demands from multiple organisations and letters that she was unable to understand, Sue's mental health plummeted.
Sue eventually heard of Grace Advocacy from her local Carers Association and sought out our help.
Bureaucratic incompetence and indifference
Grace Advocacy began by writing to Sue’s housing association and local authority explaining her situation and asking them to suspend eviction and recovery action.
We then helped Sue gather the required evidence from her employers and visited the local DWP. Despite this visit, the evidence failed to reach the relevant department in the DWP.
In order to try progress matters, we helped Sue lodge a complaint with the local DWP office.
When that failed to trigger action, we helped Sue lodge a complaint against the DWP Processing Office in Belfast.
This complaint triggered a request for an additional form to be filled in and further evidence to be provided – even though the DWP already had this evidence on file.
We helped Sue complete the necessary form and submit it, only to be told that she had been provided with the wrong form and that a different form was required. Despite Sue being at her wits end, we helped her complete and submit the new form.
The outcome
Four months after they had been suspended, Sue's benefits were reactivated and back paid.
As a result:
- The threat of eviction and homelessness ended once her rent arrears were paid
- The debt the DWP stopped recovery action as they acknowledged she no longer owed them money
- The crisis was over and Sue's life was able to return to normal.
