Meet The Team: Get To Know Marie Craig!

We’d like to introduce you to Marie Craig, who is our Retirement Scheme Officer here at Nehemiah Housing.

Most of you will already know Marie but for those who don’t, this is a great opportunity to become familiar with who she is and what she does – and discover more about how she can support you as a Nehemiah tenant.

What Is Marie’s Role?

Marie’s role is challenging and rewarding, as she listens and responds to the issues tenants living within Schemes face on a daily basis.

She oversees 2 retirement schemes at Nehemiah in Wolverhampton, for adults aged 55 and over.

In her words: “My days are full of the challenges people living in the schemes face every day. I provide the support they need to navigate their way through – so they can thrive and not simply survive.”

Which Retirement Schemes Does Marie Oversee?

Shanti Niketan and McCalla House.

How Long Has Marie Been Working As Retirement Scheme Officer?

For 2 years.

She explained that she needed a new challenge and a change of opportunity within social care, so applied for this role.

What Is A Typical Day For Marie?

Days are rarely typical for Marie.

She says: “First thing I do when I arrive at work is inform CareLine that I’m on site.

“Next, I’ll make my wellbeing calls to find out how the tenants are before setting about helping them. Help may include applying for benefits, contacting contractors, doing reports, planning meetings, planning activities, advocating on their behalf, and liaising with health care professionals.

“It’s so important to have good time management skills and to always put tenants first during each and every day – that’s how I strike the balance between administrative duties and resident interactions.”

What Are The Most Common Issues?

“I receive a lot of queries about repairs,” says Marie.

“Often, tenants need something in their home to be repaired so I’ll arrange for this to happen. Many new requests that are made are for items that tenants need.”

What Kind Of Activities Does Marie Help To Organise?

So many, she says!

“Where do I start? In a nutshell, I help to organise all cultural celebrations, health and wellbeing events, and liaise with PCO. In addition, I help to organise all scheme-related and Nehemiah initiatives.”

How Does Marie Ensure The Scheme Stays Safe And Welcoming?

Marie says: “By doing walk arounds and listening to the tenants’ concerns, ensuring they are actioned. To support the tenants, I make sure they are safe by arranging for the PCO to do regular walk arounds.”

How Does Marie Build Trust With Tenants?

Through a combination of openness and reliability, she explains.

In her words: “By being open and transparent but never over promising what I can achieve.”

How Are Residents Who Feel Isolated Supported?

Marie says it’s all about trust: “I support residents who feel isolated and lonely by building up trust with them and encouraging them to engage at their pace.

“It’s important to be patient and supportive – but I never overstep my position.”

Are There Any Memorable Moments Where Marie Made A Difference To A Resident’s Day?

There are!

“There are 3 moments that spring to mind as being particularly memorable,” Marie explains.

“We did an appreciation for three tenants at McCalla house who have lived there for 25 years and more. At Shanti, we celebrated Diwali and all the tenants were involved. Another time was when we celebrated a tenant’s 97^th Birthday. Just incredible.”

What Skills Are Needed For This Role?

Patience is top of the list.

Marie says: “The list is endless, but patience is one of the main things.

“You have to become a master of many things but the thing to remember is that, although as Scheme Officers we are frontline lone workers, we collectively have a great team spirit amongst us and we care for each other’s health and wellbeing by supporting each other on a daily basis.

“This knowledge feeds our patience and ensures we support each other to help every tenant to the best of our ability every day.”

What’s The Most Rewarding Part Of The Role?

“The ultimate goal of this role,” explains Marie, “is to support residents and enable them to be fully independent for as long as possible.

“An effective way to do this is to always work as a team – together we achieve more.

“It’s so rewarding to help older tenants to continue living independently.”

What Motivates Marie Every Day?

“My pay at the end of the month LOL,” Marie jokes.

“Just being real but knowing that each day is an opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life, even if it’s just a smile, motivates me to work hard in my role as Retirement Scheme Officer.”

What Might People Not Realise About Retirement Housing?

“That they are for independent living – it’s not a residential or care home.”

What Do You Enjoy Doing Outside Of Work?

“My church helps me to unwind,” Marie says.

“LOL beside church, my faith, I enjoy many things outside work.”

Nehemiah Is Here To Help & Support

Tenants’ wellbeing is at the core of all Marie and her team do – and all of us here at Nehemiah, in fact.

We fully appreciate how vital it is that tenants are able to live independently for as long as possible. This is why we do all we can to support and assist tenants in our retirement schemes to live happy, fulfilled lives every day.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our Meet The Team with Marie.

If you want to speak to Marie Craig about any issues, you can contact your Housing Officer or call us on 0121 358 0966 or email contact@nehemiah.co.uk and we will do all we can to help you.