The Nehemiah Project

About this provider

Our Residents have a history of addiction which has severely affected them, their families and the wider community. We enable these men to break this cycle of addiction, offending and homelessness, and provide the professional and life changing support required to secure a new future. The national average for remaining abstinent for a year is 30%; at Nehemiah 74% of Residents remain abstinent. Nearly 50% of released prisoners reoffend within 12 months and for London prisons this figure increases to 60%. At Nehemiah, as far as we know, only 5% of the men we have worked with in the last five years have reoffended.

We have three houses in South London and are able to provide 17 men at a time with practical and emotional support, giving them an increased chance of staying free from drugs and alcohol. Men initially need help to manage day-to-day practical issues, while at the same time, coping with staying abstinent.

Our Supported Housing Programme has two stages; ‘A New Future’ and ‘Move-on’. Stage One: 'A New Future'. The core of Nehemiah's work is our recovery programme, A New Future, which focuses on recovery and resettlement through process groups and educational sessions. We encourage the participating cohort to work through issues together, sharing experiences, challenging one another and resolving conflict.

This has helped build resilience to increase the men's ability to cope with the day-to-day social, emotional and practical pressures. All Residents attend ‘A New Future’ which is run daily in our first-stage houses. The programme runs three times a year, and men can join at any point in one cycle, and then continue to finish all the modules in the following cycle. A New Future provides the understanding, knowledge and structure that men need to break out of former behaviours and establish a life without addiction. It is not possible to work or attend training during A New Future.

All men attend keywork sessions weekly, and there are other modules available to enhance their recovery. Stage Two: 'Move-On' At this stage the men receive support that mainly focuses around finding employment, education and training, rebuilding family relationships, dealing with life stressors while remaining abstinent and finding suitable and stable future accommodation.