Access to decent housing is an absolute necessity to reintegrate homeless people into society. It’s the most important condition to feel better and to undertake the necessary steps at the social level or regarding one’s physical/mental health.
Nevertheless, our patients encounter difficulties in obtaining a home: Eileen and Aymeric, social workers at Street Nurses, tell us about their experiences.
Housing as a means to end homelessness
Eileen opens the video, recalling that Street Nurses accompany the most vulnerable homeless people, who are considered as such on the basis of criteria like age, sex, duration of their street life or problems regarding mental health or addiction.
Aymeric explains that these people, once housed, can solve all sorts of problems (physical, mental, administrative) and overcome difficulties they never imagined they could handle.
In other words, housing makes sustainable reintegration into society possible.
The obstacles in obtaining a home
Eileen emphasizes the financial obstacles because most accompanied people live below the poverty line. She also shows the administrative difficulties associated with social housing as well as the discrimination to which most people with a complex way of life are exposed.
Aymeric concludes by underlining the essential role of accompaniment in overcoming these obstacles.