News

Émilie Meessen, a graduate in nursing and community health, has been working in the homelessness sector in Brussels for 2 years when she makes the following observation: despite the presence of a developed network of associations in Brussels, the number of homeless people remains considerable in the streets of the capital.

The phase of post-follow-up provided at home, known as "My Way", is the phase where we aim to improve the quality of life of people who have been stabilized in a home, and eventually to get them out of the follow-up by street nurses.

The Follow-up is the second step for our patients towards stable and sustainable reintegration into housing. It consists of intensive accompaniment for the person; it is the core of our work. It starts on the street and continues until the patient is reintegrated into housing, where he or she will still benefit from the support of the professionals and volunteers of Street Nurses, on a regular but spaced basis.

You who has been protected by a legitimate governmental measure imposing a moratorium on evictions given the health situation, you are about to re-join the mass of those who, on September first, will be evicted.

Organisations around the world are insistent that homeless people need better protection from Covid-19.

On a recent visit to the metro, I was horrified to observe the outcasts of the current lockdown.

Our activities extend widely beyond simply finding homeless people stable housing. Once they have been re-housed, we continue to follow them up over a long period.

Our work to help homeless people back into stable and durable accommodation takes place in several stages. Identification is the first of these stages.

People without a hosting solution are already particularly vulnerable to the risks associated with Covid-19. Recent government measures taken to limit the spread of Covid-19 pose an additional risk of exclusion for these individuals.

To wash yourself, changing your clothes, going to the toilet, finding water and food; these basic needs are unattainable for almost a third of the homeless people.

Norway and Finland, pioneers in 'ending homelessness', tell us that there are three main points to focus on if we want to end homelessness one day.

When quarantine started, in March, hotels in Brussels have opened their doors to offer a total of 820 rooms to host the homeless people. Meanwhile, those infrastructures have closed and as off today, only 92 rooms are available (according to Bruss’help).

To “Infirmiers de rue” it is a big regret.