Derry Desmond’s Post

And this excellent piece helps to bring out the nuances that mean that Street homelessness is far more complicated than portrayed on social media posts! It is not black and white. If you care about seeing the situation improve, or want to share things about it on social media, please read this and not just headlines.

Every person deserves a safe, affordable place to call home. It’s a human right- wouldn’t you agree? In New Zealand there are c. 25,000 households registered on the Public Housing Register (and so many more that have not registered because of a lack of hope or belief that the system will help), there are over 6,000 households currently ‘living’ in transitional housing – in fact New Zealand has one of the highest levels of homelessness per capita in the OECD. But these stats, whilst shocking figures in themselves, only show a glimpse of the extent of the problem. Homelessness is so much more than just rough sleeping or numbers on a housing register. You can be homeless, yet have shelter and a place to stay at night. Rough sleeping is simply the most visible experience of homelessness. Homelessness can also affect anyone. It’s a problem that is masked by the fact that so many people experiencing homeless move from one temporary solution to another, making do until they can find permanent accommodation. They are forced to move between the homes of family and friends, couch surf, sleep in garages, stay in cheap motels, caravans and sadly, even cars. Can you imagine the impact and toll this has on a person’s self- worth, their capacity to find and maintain a job, their ability to stay healthy, a child’s ability to study and thrive a school? This is not ok. And so, it is for this reason that I urge all my contacts (near and far) to increase your understanding of what it means to be homeless. And, most importantly, I hope in doing so, it moves you and activates your compassion to do what you can in your sphere of influence and capacity to help be part of the solution. You may be surprised to understand that in actual fact there is so much you can do, which I guarantee will most certainly cost you far less than what many are enduring if we all continue to turn a blind eye… World Homelessness Day https://lnkd.in/g7MJSFV5 Help End Homelessness https://lnkd.in/gN8ZkagM #homelessness #housingcrisis #aotearoa #newzealand 

Homelessness, Destitution, and Hunger Soar in the UK Ending Poverty Needs Solutions Grounded in Human Rights. Newly released information paints a grim picture of life for many in the United Kingdom: food bank use, homelessness, and destitution are on the rise, putting people’s rights at risk. The Trussell Trust, the largest UK-wide food bank network, reported it is giving out 16 percent more emergency food parcels than last year, and 116 percent more than it was five years ago. The reason? People on low incomes often have no alternative but to turn to food banks. Government data released last week showed that the number of households in England facing homelessness and placed in “temporary accommodation” was up 10 percent from the previous year. Families often face years in “temporary accommodation”; a quarter of households with children spend two to five years, sometimes in rights-violating conditions. Meanwhile, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation recently published estimates that 3.8 million people experienced destitution in the UK in 2022. Full story: https://lnkd.in/g6qbAwxc

Did you know that in the NT homelessness rates are 12 times the national average, people sleeping rough rates are 14 times the national average, and there is an overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Mission Australia is one of several organisations in the NT supporting and empowering people who are experiencing homelessness. Mission Australia's Integrated Homelessness Supported Accommodation Program (IHSAP) in partnership with Yilli Rreung (and funded by NT Govt) supported nearly 600 people in 2023 experiencing homelessness. From feedback from our clients we know what we do is good ...but we want that 'good' to be even better. That's why we commissioned an evaluation of IHSAP and would like to share https://lnkd.in/gEnfWrtF Ana Aitcheson Brent Warren Mission Australia Rachel Christie Territory Families, Housing and Communities

The Australian dream turned nightmare? The topic of tonight’s Q&A hits home for us.  Our frontline staff are seeing more people reach out to homelessness services like ours for help. As the homelessness and housing emergency continues to worsen, we’re calling on the Federal government to urgently commit to:  - 🏗️ Building one million new social and affordable homes to meet growing demand over the next 20 years.  - 💰 Invest in a new $500 million Homelessness Prevention Transformation Fund to help people avoid homelessness in the first place.  - 📈 Increase Commonwealth Rent Assistance by at least 50% and lift income support payments to at least $80 a day to keep people who are in need out of poverty and poverty-induced homelessness. Tune into Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) #QandA (9:35pm AEDT tonight) and join the national conversation about solutions to ensure everyone has a safe, secure and affordable home and the support they need to thrive. If we all work together, we can #endhomelessness in Australia.  

Finland's remarkable success in reducing homelessness is often credited to the innovative Housing First approach. This model offers stable housing as the primary intervention, complemented by essential support services to address the root causes of homelessness and help individuals rebuild their lives. Amid the escalating homelessness crisis in the United States, evidence-backed solutions like Housing First often take a back seat to counterproductive measures like criminalizing poverty and conducting homeless sweeps. While skeptics argue that Finland's achievements cannot be replicated in America, Invisible People embarked on a transformative journey to Helsinki, Finland, to explore the potential of implementing the Housing First approach on a large scale in the United States. What's even more striking is that Housing First was born in America. Yet, Finland has embraced it and witnessed an incredible reduction in homelessness, plummeting from over 20,000 homeless people to less than 4,000 in just a decade. Countless media outlets have highlighted Finland's achievements in homelessness reduction, with the Housing First model at the forefront. However, our investigation uncovered that the Finnish approach goes beyond Housing First. Finland's strategy involves prioritizing the development of affordable housing and cultivating a culture genuinely dedicated to improving homeless services to house people quickly and permanently. While Housing First has played a significant role in their success, it's just one piece of the puzzle. Unlike the United States, where the emphasis often lies solely on housing placement, Finland recognizes that people need more than just a roof over their heads to thrive. In Finland, they prioritize placing the individual within the housing unit, ensuring that they have a sense of purpose rather than merely survival.

The eviction ban in place from November 2022 until the end of March 2023 did not lead to a reduction in homelessness numbers, but monthly increases in total numbers did slow and the number of homeless children decreased during the period. https://lnkd.in/g8Ge3t63

Highlighting the good things that Cosy Start are doing, but also to show the struggles people are still facing. According to the article, a pilot scheme providing essential furnishings to residents of Bath and North East Somerset has been extended to support more households and reduce social care costs. "In 2023 Cosy Start paid for essential furnishings for 15 homes in the region to combat the impact of furniture poverty. Moving into a new home can often affect individuals’ physical, emotional, social and financial well-being, particularly those at a critical time of adjustment, such as fleeing domestic abuse or those who have resettled after being homeless." Read more about this at https://ow.ly/6cuh50ShOnP #News #PR #Poverty #Housing #SocialCare #TemporaryAccomodation #CosyStart #FurniturePoverty #Homelessness #SocialImpact #CommunitySupport #HousingScheme #PovertyReduction #SocialCareSupport #FurnishingsForAll #LocalCharity #bathandnortheastsomerset

📈 RECORD HOMELESSNESS STATS 📈 Today’s official government stats show a 15% increase in the number of children living in temporary accommodation; on New Year’s Eve 2023 112,660 households were homeless living in temporary accommodation, including 145,800 children. Both record highs. The stats also showed that 317,430 households in England faced homelessness in 2023*. Another shameful new record. It’s clear England is experiencing a housing emergency. Children are growing up in temporary accommodation, and people are being pushed into homelessness by insecure and overpriced housing every single day. We know the long-term solutions; investing in social homes and fixing renting. We also know social homes will pay for themselves. It’s time for all political parties to prove they are serious about acting to end homelessness and, ahead of the next general election, commit to taking real action >> https://shltr.org.uk/ZfpZM * New government statutory homelessness figures released today, show the number of households facing homeless in 2023 of 317,430 is the highest annual total since records began in 2018. It is 9% higher than in 2022 (292,390). This was calculated by combining the households found to be owed a prevention or relief duty. Tables on homelessness - https://gov.uk/

TRUE OR FALSE THURSDAY! TRUE: Rent increases and record low vacancy rates are driving more Australians into homelessness. A report released by Homelessness Australia, reveals the number of Australians seeking support from homelessness services increased by 7.5% between December 2022 and March 2023. This represents an extra 1,600 people seeking support for homelessness each month. It was recorded that more than 95,000 people were seeking homelessness assistance in March 2023. For 83% of those people, the reason cited was due to housing or financial issues. Western Australia was recorded as having the second highest increase in demand for homelessness assistance in Australia during December 2022 to March 2023, at a 11.1% increase.