Northern Ireland Communities Minister has announced an additional
£3.7million for homelessness and £3million to support NIHE
service delivery but added that collective effort is needed to
deal with the growing challenge in our society.
At the start of Homelessness Awareness week, the Minister
outlined his support for a motion in the Northern Ireland
Assembly which called for action on the issue.
The Minister said: “Everyone needs a secure and safe place
to call home. I share the ambition in this motion to make
homelessness brief, rare and non-recurrent
“Homelessness Awareness Week highlights the reality of
homelessness in Northern Ireland.
“The theme for this year is 'Time for Change', and I
could not agree more with that sentiment. I have said before
that we must be radical in our approach to homelessness, seeking
innovative solutions to problems and thinking of different ways
to respond to need.
“The events taking place during this week play a vital role in
highlighting the reality of homelessness in Northern Ireland.
Only through education and outreach will we be able to properly
recognise the challenges and start to dismantle the stigma
associated with homelessness.
“We need to make the strategic shift to the prevention of
homelessness, and that remains my ambition. However, this will
take time, and our short-term focus must continue to be
supporting those currently in crisis.
“I recognise the growing demand, as the level of need continues
to rise beyond the services provided. But I am determined to
bring forward measures which will pro-actively address the issues
we face.
“Funding has to be a central strand of this. I secured an
additional £3.7m in October Monitoring to tackle homelessness.
This will allow the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to provide
certainty of funding for the remainder of the year to their third
sector partners who deliver valuable services for people who are
homeless.
“While I have yet to receive my budget for next year, I will
ensure that NIHE is able to continue to give providers that same
level of certainty by specifically allocating part of its budget
allocation for such work.
“But it is clear that our approach has to be wider than funding
alone.
“I hope to publish the Housing Supply Strategy imminently and, in
doing so, announce new measures which will be creative in terms
of both investment and innovative steps.
“But this has to be a collective goal. I look forward to working
with other departments and our sectoral partners in a
co-ordinated and effective way.”
The Minister acknowledged those who are involved – at all levels
– in services to address homelessness.
He added: “I want to put on record my thanks to Homeless
Connect, and each of the organisations across the sector, for the
work they do each and every day to support some of the most
vulnerable in our society.
“Voluntary and community organisations across the homelessness
sector make an invaluable, and sometimes lifesaving, contribution
to the lives of people across Northern Ireland.”
