Street Nurses in Liège made quite some headway since it started its work in Liège in 2019. There are now ten persons who are committed each day to end homelessness in the city - and their results are impressive. Ahead of its four years’ anniversary, let’s see what was achieved.
A bigger and more diversified team
In 2019, Street Nurses took up the challenge of fighting homelessness in Liège where problems were acute. The team of three members joined and complemented, using Street Nurses’ methodology, the Liège structures of organisations fighting homelessness.
Four years later, the Liège team is bigger and more diversified. It now has two project managers, three social workers, an educationalist, someone responsible for housing, and three nurses.
The arrival, at the end of 2022, of the person in charge of housing, helped to optimise the work. Gaïd Prigent explains how: “Before, the socio-medical team also had to do everything related to the search and maintenance of housing. That added to the field work the procedures, negotiations and other jobs connected to the housing needs of our patients. The field team is now no longer burdened by this extra work and can concentrate for the full 100% on socio-medical support!”
Getting people off the street requires perseverance
The team’s efforts produced results that speak for themselves: they accompanied 17 persons, some of whom already found a new home again. This comes with considerable changes for the people concerned: leaving street-life, getting used to a home, putting their administration in order, setting up medical care. Results therefore always take time, but it works.
According to Pierre Ryckmans, the medical coordinator of Street Nurses, “We knew this from the beginning but we now see it in the field: patience and perseverance are essential for getting people off the street. The team harvests the fruits of its work and that is most gratifying.”
Follow-up
“We are fully aware that the road ahead is still long and difficult, but the work is worth the effort. People sometimes tell us: “What you’re doing is fantastic”… But do they actually realise how true that is, including for ourselves? We’re also surprised by our patients’ progress”, says Pierre Ryckmans.
And Gaïd Prigent to conclude: “If we were able to achieve these results, it’s thanks to the support of our Liège partners and donors to whom we are most grateful.”
Long live Street Nurses-Liège!