News

2020 was for everybody a strange and difficult year but even more so for homeless people. This “lockdown year” has at least put the spotlight on the consequences of homelessness, especially in Brussels and Liège.

This brought up the question as to when we could let our patients go. Under what conditions? Following which procedure?

A lack of times and human resources makes it impossible for us to look after all homeless people at the same time. We must make a selection.

Each of us is gifted in some way. For some that’s obvious, for others much less so. Knowing what we are capable of and communicating it to other people gives us self-confidence and self-esteem.

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.