Genesis Housing Association Residents Report 2013

Genesis Community
Each year our charitable foundation, Genesis
Community runs a huge number of community
development projects. Our work with younger
residents is one element of Genesis Community
we are really proud of. More than 650 young
people have been involved with Genesis
Community in the last year.
We had particular success at our Woodberry Down
and Grahame Park regeneration projects which
created a joint programme for young people.
These were much more than just fun events to
pass the time, our younger residents have said that
Genesis Community’s activities have been a big
boost to their confidence and self-esteem.
With 17 million people in the UK without access
to computers or the internet, there is still massive
potential for the most socially and economically
disadvantaged people to become more and
more cut off. To combat this, Genesis Community
has worked with over 2000 residents, many of
them older people, to teach them how to use a
computer or to improve their existing skills.
Improving the skills of our residents is a big part
of Genesis Community’s work. The Opportunities
Plus programme, which helps support residents to
achieve their aspirations has worked with almost
900 residents.
Genesis Community has a huge number of success
stories. We are pleased that we are able to support
our residents and provide the opportunities they
need to build brighter futures for themselves.
Diversity
Respect for diversity is one of our core values.
Our equalities, diversity and inclusion policy sets
out this commitment. We are proud that for the
second year running we have been selected by
The Times as one of the top 50 places for woman
to work. Genesis has also earned a top 50 position
in the Workplace Equality Index, from the Lesbian
Gay and Bisexual campaigning group Stonewall.
Business in the Community has recently placed
Genesis in the Top Ten public sector organisations
for its work on gender and race equality.
We are working closely with residents from a
number of backgrounds, including people with
disabilities and the LGBT community. Residents
with a disability can work with the Residents
Disability Forum and residents who are gay,
lesbian, bisexual or transgender can work with our
LGBT Residents Forum to improve and shape our
services to provide a more inclusive delivery
.
Anti-social behaviour
We know that anti-social behaviour (ASB) can have a
significant impact on the lives of our residents. Our
ASB team works with local authorities, the police and
other housing associations to prevent and tackle ASB.
In 2011, we updated the ASB section of our General
Needs tenancy agreements so that resident
responsibilities are stated much more clearly. New
residents are given a handbook which sets out
their responsibilities together with our approach on
dealing with ASB.
Reporting anti-social behaviour
Residents can choose a number of ways to report
an ASB issue including calling our contact centre, by
email, in person to your property manager or housing
officer, or at one of our regional offices, by letter or via
our website.
Residents phoning the contact centre about ASB
are put through to a ‘solutions team’. This team has
specialist ASB knowledge and deal with complaints
quickly and efficiently.
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