Without psychological support, getting off the streets remains fragile
At Street Nurses, we support homeless people towards sustainable housing. But to remain in housing, having a roof over one’s head is not enough: people also need to be able to cope with the trauma, mental health disorders and exhaustion caused by life on the streets. Today, a large proportion of our patients are affected by mental health problems, and access to care is often difficult.
Behind every story of life on the streets, there is often deep and silent psychological suffering. To respond to this in a fairer and more humane way, Street Nurses created a field psychologist position. It is a valuable source of support, both for the people we accompany and for our teams, who face complex and deeply upsetting situations every day.
Campaign goal: €70,000 to sustain the field psychologist position until the end of the year
This role supports the teams as closely as possible to their day-to-day reality, both on the streets and in housing, helps them understand complex situations, strengthens support, and builds bridges with the care network. This work helps prevent breakdowns, avoid relapses, and make support more robust over time. To ensure the continuity of this position until the end of the year, we are launching a fundraising campaign with a target of €70,000.
Your gift directly funds the psychologist’s presence on the ground and helps secure essential support for people who are fighting every day to get back on their feet.
A challenge at the heart of our work
On the ground, you quickly learn that psychological suffering is not always visible. It can hide behind an evasive glance, disjointed speech, a refusal of contact, or deep mistrust. Sometimes it appears in the form of crises that are poorly understood. Often, it retreats into heavy silence. What we do know, however, is that in the vast majority of cases at Street Nurses, mental health was at the heart of the pathway of 70% of our patients in 2024.
And yet it is still too often overlooked, due to a lack of means, resources, or simply understanding. This position was created to respond to that reality. Not to provide therapeutic follow-up or replace specialised care, but to support those who accompany people on a daily basis. To build bridges between realities experienced on the ground and a care system that is often too distant, too rigid, or poorly adapted.
To prevent mental health disorders from becoming an obstacle to getting off the streets and, on the contrary, turn them into a lever for recovery.
The state of mental health in the pathway into homelessness
Mental health disorders are very common among people living in severe hardship. Sometimes, life on the streets causes or worsens these disorders: exclusion, constant insecurity, violence and ruptures all leave their mark. At other times, it is a psychiatric condition that, for lack of support or appropriate care, leads to the loss of housing. In both directions, the links between precarity and mental health are strong and often complex.
It is not always clear whether psychological suffering comes before life on the streets or results from it.
But one thing is certain: the more excluded a person is, the more frequent mental health disorders become. Rates of depression or alcohol dependence, for example, are much higher among homeless people than in the general population. And in recent years, migration crises have also intensified the phenomenon: many exiled people end up on the streets, often carrying a heavy burden marked in particular by post-traumatic stress.
On the ground, we see how much of a difference housing can make. Having a roof over one’s head is often the first step towards improved mental well-being. Conversely, housing instability only makes things worse. But mental health disorders can also complicate access to housing or make it difficult to remain housed. It is a vicious circle that we are trying to break by acting on both fronts: mental health and housing.
Support on the streets and in housing: supporting frontline teams
This position is therefore aimed first and foremost at frontline teams: on the streets, in housing and in My Way. They are the ones who, day after day, build relationships with people experiencing severe suffering, often without having been trained to recognise signs of psychiatric disorders or to know how to respond to them. The field psychologist gives them a framework for reflection, reference points and perspective.
They help put words to situations, understand behaviours, and avoid being left alone when facing situations that are sometimes emotionally overwhelming.
This project grew out of a double observation: homeless people have an immense need to have their psychological suffering heard and recognised, and the professionals who support them also need tools, spaces for reflection, and strong support systems. Because for support to last over time, teams need to be supported, trained and connected. Our ambition is simple: to ensure that no one is left behind.
Neither our patients, nor those who support them.
Help us reach €70,000: make a gift and share the campaign.