New to Link Wentworth housing? Top tips to settle in and build community

Residents Sally and Geoff share some top tips on how to settle in and build community

1. Your Tenancy Manager is your go-to for any issues you might have.
   If you don’t get a response after a few tries, you can write to Feedback
2. Link Wentworth runs programs and offers various groups, such as the Gardening Program, the No Place Like Home Art Exhibition, School Holidays Programs and more.
   Check the calendar for more information.
3. Your Local Council and Community Library can help with finding ways to get involved and things to do near you, as well as resources such as free events and community pantries.
4. Community rooms and shared spaces are an opportunity to organise a neighbourly event, like a games afternoon or a bring-a-plate lunch. A noticeboard can be a good way to share information and connect.

Ways to get involved

• Link Wentworth Scholarship Program can help you to fund education and life goals
• A Community Grant can help you to fund an idea for bringing people together
• WriteUp! Residents blog is an online space for creative residents to share ideas and art in an online publication

Passionate about community and housing? Make your voice heard by joining the Tenant Advisory Group – TAG.

• Meet 4 times per year
• Hear briefings on business updates from Link Wentworth CEO, Chair and senior staff
• Be consulted, have discussions, share your views and feedback
• Socialise with other passionate residents and be part of the community

For more information email community.programs@linkwentworth.org.au

How to deal with difficult people

Diverse communities can be a wonderful thing, people from varied backgrounds coming together to support each other on this journey called life. However, just as life doesn’t run smoothly all the time, dealing with others can be challenging.

It’s a natural instinct to want to help people but I cannot stress enough the importance of setting boundaries, make it clear that you will not always be available. Doing this will help avoid others becoming too reliant on you.

Seeing or experiencing difficult behaviours can be quite confronting. I have lived in community housing for many years now, and in my experience, the most important thing you can do is to keep calm.

• People are often acting on impulse and in the grip of their emotions, so don’t interrupt, don’t react negatively, and remember not to take things personally.
• De-escalation is your goal, but it is also vital to assess the situation individually.
• Keep a distance to avoid possible risk to your physical safety- it’s rare but it does happen.

It is a well-known fact that antisocial behaviour is an ongoing issue in community housing, but no system is perfect and there are no quick fixes to complex problems. So, while tenant frustration is natural, educating ourselves on protocols and procedures can help provide a better understanding of why our expectations of outcomes are often unrealistic.

Sally-Ann Matthews, TAG member

Learn conflict resolution skills

So I used to volunteer at Junction 142, a local community project that supports a lot of vulnerable people, some of whom might present with problems of intoxication, confusion and anger.

As you might expect, there was occasionally a need to resolve disputes. I’d already done some formal stuff on it from my mother who was a trauma counsellor. But J142 certainly honed my skills. I had to stop a guy from getting overly beaten up, I had to ask a guy to stop abusing staff, that sort of thing.

So I put some formal skills into practice and they worked out fine. 98% of the time I got the result I wanted, and people thanked me for my candour.

So the essence of conflict resolution is this: be assertive not aggressive. Which works not only in the game of getting the thing you want, but also in the game of sticking up for yourself emotionally. The tenets of this method follow:

• Say what you mean to say in the way that you mean to say it
• Draw the line at provocation
• Use “I or me” statements
  1. Eg, “When you do this, it makes me feel like that”
• Walk a mile in the other man’s shoes
• Plan what you’re going to say before you say it
• Aim for a win-win resolution

   

Geoff Walker, Editorial Committee