Be the reference someone has no way of getting
Renting, banking and jobs all require a history that anyone newly arrived by definition does not have.
The BeingKind editorsPublished How this is written
Why it lands
Systems designed around continuity actively exclude anyone starting again — refugees, care leavers, people out of prison, new migrants. The requirement is usually a person with standing willing to vouch, which is the one thing you cannot acquire quickly. Someone established agreeing to be that is often the entire difference between a tenancy and a hostel.
How
Say yes and then actually answer the phone when they ring. Be specific about how you know them and for how long. If you cannot be a guarantor financially, offer a character reference, which is frequently enough.
This is part of
A written list of what else helps in the same situation.
Related
Leave a note for your mail carrier
The person who walks to your door most days almost never hears from the people who live behind it.
5 minutesFreeA stranger2 people did this
Add alt text to your images
An image without a description is a blank space to anyone using a screen reader. Writing one takes twenty seconds.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Leave the accessible toilet alone
It is not the spare one when there is a queue. For some people it is the only one in the building.
5 minutesFreeA stranger2 people did this
Read the form out loud for someone
Around one in six adults reads below the level most official forms are written at.
Half an hourFreeA neighbor
Correct your own mistake where you made it
Misinformation spreads further than corrections. Correcting yourself in the original place is the only version that works.
5 minutesFreeA stranger