Steadying the Ladder Gerard Lemos is a partner at social researchers Lemos&Crane. He is the author of several books and reports on supporting vulnerable people including, The Communities We Have Lost and Can Regain (1997), with Michael Young; A Future Foretold: new approaches to meeting the long-term needs of single homeless people (1999); Dreams Deferred: the families and friends of homeless and vulnerable people (2002), and Military History: the experiences of people who become homeless after military service (2005), both with Stefan Durkacz. Gerard Lemos was a member of the Commission on Families and the Well- being of Children. The Commission’s report, Families and the State; two-way support and responsibilities was published in 2005. Steadying the Ladder Social and emotional aspirations of homeless and vulnerable people Gerard Lemos Lemos&Crane 64 Highgate High Street London N6 5HX Tel: 020 8348 8263; Fax: 020 8347 5740 Email:
[email protected] Web: www.lemosandcrane.co.uk © Lemos&Crane 2006 First published in 2006 by Lemos&Crane in association with Thames Reach Bondway with the support of the City of London’s Bridge House Trust. No part of this publication may be reproduced, adapted, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise without the prior permission of Lemos&Crane. A CIP catalogue record for this report is available from the British Library. ISBN 1 898001 79 0 (paperback) Prepared and printed by: York Publishing Services Ltd 64 Hallfield Road Layerthorpe York Y031 7ZQ Web: www.yps-publishing.co.uk Contents Acknowledgements vi Introduction 1 PART ONE.