“Sadly, when it comes to housing the marginalised, those struggling to get by, it’s always someone else’s problem, they’re always being passed on. We know we can’t fix things for everyone we encounter in difficulty but we want to be able to do what we can,” says Simon.
Aware of the need to expand, the trustees are urgently seeking investors and potential landlords to help reach their goal of overseeing 100 more properties and securing £1 million of investment within the next 10 years.
For those unable to invest, there is the chance to be a real friend to those who often don’t have any friends, perhaps by helping them with the shopping, moving in, or just lending a sympathetic ear.
People planning some time away could consider entrusting their house to tenants until their return, while those with underutilised spare bedrooms or sofa-beds could invite someone in to share their home and save them from a night on the park bench.
Peter and his wife Hannah have hosted many people in need of a home over the last few years. The experience has not always been easy – neither for host nor guest – but it has ultimately proved to be a blessing and a real way of demonstrating Christian hospitality.
“The gift of hospitality is one of the gifts that Christ wants us to exercise in the church because there are many strangers in our land,” says Hannah.
That’s why Just Homes is above all else, a Kingdom project, says Bruce.
“Jesus subverts the way that society operates and the belief that there are some people who are more important than others.
"Actually it is those people at the bottom that Jesus paid particular attention to in order to make the point that everybody matters.
"What drives us to do this isn’t a love for housing. What really drives us is the concern that God treats everybody as equally important and therefore has particular concern for those who are excluded.”
