This Week in Homelessness (TWIH) - March 12-18

Tiffany Connolly
Mar 17, 2017
3 min read

Help-and-Homes Project to End Homelessness in the U.K.

Ministers of the United Kingdom are analyzing a bold new plan to end homelessness in their country. This £100 million plan would eradicate rough sleeping - a term which corresponds with Category 1 of the IGH Framework - in a three-year span. It would consist of providing people with permanent housing and easy access to mental health and substance abuse services.

Since rates of rough sleeping have nearly doubled in the last six years - from 1,800 in 2010 to over 4,000 in 2016 - legislation is hoping to adopt a plan that prioritizes housing to bring individuals and families out of homelessness. Communities Secretary Sajid Javid plans to travel to Finland, where the strategy has been successful, to learn more about the system.

Read the full article here.

Msunduzi Mayor Addresses 'Vagrancy' in the City

People experiencing homelessness (vagrants) in Msunduzi

In some regions, homelessness is often referred to as "vagrancy" and people experiencing homelessness as "vagrants". Mayor Themba Njiloa of Msunduzi, a city located in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, is addressing 'vagrancy', or homelessness, with 'Walkabouts' taking place at random throughout the city from now until the end of March. According to municipal spokesperson Thobeka Mafumbatha, the walkabouts are being held to engage with people living on the streets to learn of their needs and provide help to them. The first Walkabout began at city hall and proceeded to Hoosen Haffejee and Retief streets. Other stakeholders who accompanied the Mayor to the visit included the Department of Social Development, the SAPS, Community Safety, the business community and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Read the full article here.

Tenerife, Spain's Base 25 Social Housing Project

The Tenerife Council (Cabildo de Tenerife) is developing a project called Base 25 to provide individuals experiencing homelessness with social housing. City officials say the initiative has been successful in Santa Cruz, another city in Spain; thus, they would like to develop it throughout the island of Tenerife. Aurelio Abreu, vice president and councilor of the Municipal Cooperation and Housing, says that the project aims at addressing homelessness prevention through housing stock. Arona, the southern region and economic capital of the island, will serve as a tool that will allow for inter-administrative collaboration to carry out the plans for people in need. Social technicians will work at defining and specifying the needs of people experiencing homelessness to ensure an effective plan for housing is formulated and carried out.

Read the full article here. (This article's original text is in Spanish.)

Virginia Department of Veterans Services Receives the Abraham Lincoln Pillars of Excellence Award

This week, the Virginia Department of Veterans Services (VDVS) received the Abraham Lincoln Pillars of Excellence Award from the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The state was awarded for the initiative partnership between the Commonwealth and federal and local entities that enabled Virginia to become the first state to functionally end veteran homelessness in 2015. Through coordination of collective efforts across federal, state, community and private partnerships, Virginia has been a national leader in streamlining housing access and supportive services necessary to prevent and end homelessness among veterans. The state placed 2,827 veterans experiencing homelessness into permanent housing from October 2014 to January 2016.

Read the full press release here.