We started because people needed support that had disappeared. Now we provide homes.
Where we started
Sahan Society Centre was set up in 2006, after local support services closed and the families who relied on them were left with nothing. A group of people from the community decided to fill the gap themselves.
Sahan is a Somali word for the scouts who went ahead of a travelling community to find water, then came back to lead everyone there. That is still a fair description of what we do.
What we built
Over twenty years we built the services people asked for: mental health support, advice, health and wellbeing activities, English and skills classes, and a place to meet people.
That took time and trust. Both are still here, and both are part of what we now offer alongside housing.
Where we are now
We are now a housing and community support organisation. We manage homes for adults with learning disabilities and mental health needs, working alongside registered care providers to ensure people have somewhere stable to live and a community to belong to.
The community work did not stop. It became part of the housing model. The workshops, the mental health support, the integration programmes are what give our housing a depth that a property management company cannot offer.
How we work with care providers
We manage the homes. Registered care providers deliver the personal care. Those are two distinct roles, and we keep them that way.
We do not have a preferred care provider and we do not bundle care with housing. Commissioners bring their own provider, or we can help identify one. The choice is always theirs.
It means a change in care provider does not destabilise a tenancy. The home is stable even when other things change.
What we hold to
We have been in this community for nearly twenty years. We know the people, the area, and what it takes to make a home feel like one. That knowledge is part of what we bring to every housing arrangement we manage.