IT'S been almost three weeks since the rough sleepers of Belfast and Derry were brought in from the streets and provided with a safe haven to protect them from Covid-19.
In a race against time, the Housing Executive, alongside a number of homeless charities and organisations, worked tirelessly to encourage up to 60 individuals into emergency accommodation.
The joint operation means that for the first time in 10 years, there are no homeless people living rough on the streets and the move has been broadly welcomed. But it also poses questions of the sector; if accommodation was made so readily available – why has this never happened before?
According to those who work in the sector, this tightly coordinated drive to identify suitable accommodation was 'an emergency response to a crisis situation' and that a chain of circumstances allowed for single lets or bed-and-breakfast-type rooms, to become available.
Secondly, homelessness, for many, is much more complex than providing 'bricks and mortar' and the challenge now is to ensure the support services are in place to keep the rough sleepers safe and healthy for the foreseeable future.
The Welcome Organisation in Belfast was one of the key players in helping the Housing Executive identify individuals living on the streets, so they could be housed. Outreach workers were able to draw up a targeted list of rough sleepers, their whereabouts in the city and their varying needs.
Jo Daykin-Goodall, director of operations at the Welcome Organisation, explains: “When the first cases of Covid-19 were reported, there was a big drive in the Housing Executive to identify accommodation for those people sleeping on the streets.
“A lot of that accommodation is privately owned and there was a range of circumstances around it, which meant it was suitable in the short term but not sustainable. For example, due to the pandemic, there were no tourists around and students had gone home.
“While the self-contained single lets have cooking facilities and washing machines, the single rooms don't have any facilities, so aren't the long term answer to someone who is homeless.
“People need to be mindful that yes, it's fantastic that accommodation has been made available, but this was an emergency response to a crisis situation.”
Those in self-contained flats are being provided with a weekly food parcel while the people staying in single rooms receive hot meals twice a day. A laundry service is also available twice weekly and all of the individuals have been issued with a mobile phone. Daily welfare checks take place by phone for those at high risk while those deemed low or medium risk are contacted several times a week.
The organisation is also working closely with the homeless health hub's drugs outreach team and in addition to the large group of rough sleepers recently moved from the streets, is looking after around 100 people who were given permanent accommodation before the outbreak of the pandemic.
“Our staff are essential front-line workers who are risking their own lives to keep others safe,” Jo says. “Some of the team worked for days, to 12pm or 1am, without seeing their families.
“And people are still presenting to us as homeless. Every day, we have two to three new people contacting Welcome; people who were sofa surfing, or had returned to their families but those relationships have since broken down. We've even seen people who have lost their jobs as a result of the Covid-19 crisis and have then lost their tenancy.”
Jo said that while the messages of practising social distancing, good hygiene and staying home were getting through to the majority of rough sleepers, a handful were struggling with this new way of life.
“Those with poor mental health or addiction issues are finding it difficult,” she says. “When they're living on the streets, they build a community around them. Put them into single lets or rooms and they struggle with isolation.
“Most are appreciative of what's being done for them and for the handful with complex needs who are struggling, we will go out and talk to them; try to cajole them to come back in.
“We're working closely with the police too; but it's not about heavy-handed enforcement. Everyone is pulling together to keep these people safe.”
Extern provides accommodation in four hostels – three in Belfast and one in Cookstown. Mal Byrne, assistant director of Extern and the current title holder of Northern Ireland Social Worker of the Year, said that the greatest challenge for the sector was maintaining a level of support for those most vulnerable and in need.
“It's so much more than providing just accommodation,” he says. “A lot of people who are homeless have severe mental health problems or dependency on alcohol or drugs.
“Extern normally has teams on the street to support them and in hostels they have a level of support from the staff. But in new accommodation, where they're having telephone contact and not face-to-face, that can be where the difficulties rise.
“Moving forward, that's the biggest challenge; not getting them in, but keeping them in. It might start out great if you've been placed in new accommodation but as this situation goes on and the isolation creeps in, the temptation might arise to bring other people in.”
Echoing Jo's words, Mal said the majority of residents in the hostels were complying with the regulations and that so far, the situation was under control.
“We haven't had any major issues at all thankfully and no cases of Covid-19,” he says.
“Overall, homeless individuals seem to be responding quite well to this unprecedented situation.”
Testing is under way in hostels for those displaying symptoms and rather than wait for PPE to be sorted out, Extern sourced its own weeks ago.
“We saw this coming and we responded early,” he says.
The charity Depaul runs four hostels and five community bases services across the north, including the Stella Maris for those with alcohol-related issues.
David Carroll, CEO of Depaul, said service users were all too aware of the gravity of the pandemic and were cooperating with staff to stay safe.
“It's a huge relief to us that no-one has tested positive within our cohorts which is a credit to the staff,” he says. “They have been at the forefront, implementing good hygiene regimes, making sure services are clean, encouraging social distancing, supporting them to look after their health.
“We've had a lot of support from other agencies and businesses, with donations of disinfectants, hand sanitisers, and there's a real consciousness among the homeless people that we're trying to keep them safe.
“We've been right across the issue of PPE since the first few weeks of the crisis and we've definitely seen an improvement. There is a recognition now that homeless hostels and services are a priority group in the north.
“We want to make sure that is maintained over the next few weeks and to reassure staff that we are doing everything to keep them safe too.”
While self-isolation facilities have been provided for those showing symptoms at Stella Maris, elsewhere, other services have had to adapt too. A day centre in Derry unfortunately had to close its doors but users, in temporary accommodation, are still being supported through phone calls and video links.
David says that it's been hugely encouraging to see the inter-agency approach towards the homeless situation and that he's proud of how united the sector has been.
“One of the biggest achievements of this sector is that rough sleeping has ended,” he says.
“If we can maintain people in the accommodation and support the most vulnerable in their homes, they may not return to rough sleeping.
“In the midst of this crisis we have a great opportunity to end rough sleeping for good.”
