Individuals and families are referred to the city-wide ‘Rebuilding Lives’ support programme by a wide and diverse range of officially appointed referral organisations who cover all the possible crisis situations imaginable.

No-one, no group, no postcode is excluded. ‘Rebuilding Lives’ is open to anyone who is in need. ‘Rebuilding Lives’ holistically supports extremely vulnerable people and families who find themselves in a crisis situation. The programme works in two stages:

Step 1: stabilising of the crisis

Step 2: addressing the underlying causes of the crisis

Access to support is by referral via a growing city-wide network of approved referral agencies.

Client Eligibility Criteria

A person or family are eligible for referral to ‘Rebuilding Lives’ for help and support if, for whatever reason:

• combined (total) household income is not enough to cover essential living costs. i.e. housing. utility bills, childcare, travel to/from work/school/job interviews, tax, telephone, laundry, internet. clothes and food
• they are doing all they can to help themselves

Any organisation who work with, or come into contact with, people or families who could become vulnerable and find themselves in crisis can apply to become an official referral partner to the ‘Rebuilding Lives’ support programme.

Each referring agency has a responsible person officially registered with The Matthew Tree Project. This contact is responsible for ensuring their agency is operating the system correctly and only the people in genuine need are being referred.