About us
A proactive approach to diversity
Community engagement
In 2005 Housing 21 launched our "target court initiative" in which 20 courts were selected and given guidance and support to help them engage and build strong links with their local black and minority ethnic (BME) communities. Work to achieve this has taken many different forms such as:
- Presentations to local community groups about Housing 21's housing and services
- Building strong links with BME housing associations to encourage applications
- Publicising our housing and services through targeted means such as BME radio stations and publications
- Working with local councils to ensure they are aware of our approach and encourage nominations from BME communities
- Holding cultural events at our courts to encourage people from different communities to mix and socialise and increase awareness and understanding.
These initiatives are helping us achieve our desire to increase the proportion of minority ethnic elders in our courts. Another key element to help us achieve this is our recent development of a Cultural Diversity Toolkit which provides a framework for mapping cultural diversity in the localities of our existing and proposed schemes as well as providing us with the tools for building cultural competences to create culturally inclusive environments.
Copyright (c) 2008 Housing 21