A Conversation with Tany Alexander
Juliet Henderson
Editor’s note: We are all aware of the local lack of homes for the homeless. But how many of us know how desperate the situation is concerning homes for homeless women? I confess I did not until I was recently alerted to some short films about a housing project for otherwise homeless women produced by Tany Alexander. Films that won awards at two film festivals. Having watched the films, inspired by what I had learnt about the project, Aspire Women, I wanted to hear more about what had led Tany to produce them. She kindly agreed to share her story of how they came into being which I summarise below.
I work in the rough-sleeping team at Oxford City Council, but last year between September 2021 and March 2022 I was seconded to the Communications Department. I had applied for this secondment because I’m really passionate about telling stories. When they work well, they can be so helpful in getting messages across. Even if they don’t go so well, they can provide a useful start for reflective learning. Sadly, there is no time for this in my role as Adult Homeless Pathways Coordinator.
When working for Communications they wanted me to help with #oxfordneedshomes. This is a grand plan to build new homes where some are constructed to sell at a profit and others for social housing. The former is intended to subsidise the latter. Such newbuilds are not an easy sell with all since they involve use of green land. For me, they also initially represented a crisis of conscience when thinking of all the wildlife that might be lost.
However, the need for more affordable housing is a genuine issue, so I set up all sorts of interviews with people willing to be filmed on this subject. Some already had social housing. Other key workers – such as those in the ambulance service – made clear that they can’t recruit or keep people since the price of housing means they need to commute. More social housing for key workers is vital. I also talked to Danny Dorling, the geographer who reminded me the initial reason for social housing was to put slum landlords out of business. The powerful case he made was mind-opening and convinced me this needed to be done.
In the middle of all this it came to me that I wanted to do something about Aspire women’s house that is part-funded by the city council. The charity Aspire is involved in a range of superb innovative work intended to support those facing homelessness and unemployment. As such, their work has included taking over condemned houses in the vicinity of the railway station for a three-year contract. They have done amazing ground-breaking work here providing a new vision of the particular needs of homeless women.
Moved by the passion of April, the vision behind the housing for women project, in my role I had made a point of meeting her and the women housed. I thought it would make a compelling film in the #oxfordneedshomes series. Allow all to see what miracles can be done with condemned houses if you have the right attitude, have boldness and vision, and supply support. The City Councillor’s film maker Sharon Woodard, who has won awards outside her council work was very keen to get involved too. There was a tense moment on the day since we were not sure if the women would turn up. But luckily thanks to their trust in April, and in the film makers, they very graciously told us their stories. Given that women nationally with experience of rough sleeping die younger than men my hope is that this model of good practice could lead the way to a new, evidenced understanding of what homeless women need. The two awards for the films at the Mountain View International Film Festival and Oasis International Film Festival (OIFF) should help with that.
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Forty-Three Newsletter • Number 522 • October 2022
Oxford Friends Meeting
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