News

Street Nurses NPO is appalled by the practices revealed in a number of media articles today concerning the financial management at Poverello. It is always difficult to believe that such practices exist within the anti-poverty sector, but if what has been revealed in the press is true, it goes against every practice of good governance and transparency that is adhered to and promoted today within organisations that appeal to the generosity of the public.

With the image of a piece of cardboard as a 'mattress Badlük' and the launch of the first Brussels Sleep Out @Home, the NPO Street Nurses (Infirmiers de rue asbl) renews its campaign to make the Brussels public aware that homelessness can be solved. With more than 700 people sleeping on the streets of Brussels, the organisation wants to keep the whole of Brussels awake to put an end to homelessness together.

Street nurses call for a prison system that leads to reintegration

From 19 November till 5 December 2021 will take place the National Days of Prison. A pluralistic group of associations and organizations instituted these days some years ago to inform and stimulate reflection about the prison situation in Belgium.

That situation is seriously worrying and was denounced especially by the Belgian Section of the International Observatory on Prisons: in addition to overpopulation and structural lack of staff, they now also suffer from all the problems caused by the Covid crisis.

The days are getting shorter, the temperatures are dropping. In short, winter is upon us.

In order to protect our patients from its harmful effects, we have produced a tool: the "Cold prevention" poster, which contains a series of simple and effective tips to protect ourselves.

The "Scan for change" campaign was launched at the beginning of October.

In 2021 there are still 5,000 homeless people in Brussels. In Liège more than 500 people are roaming the streets every day.

Sunday 12 September saw another edition of the “20 K of Brussels”. It was a day of conviviality, full of challenges, but especially a display of solidarity.

July 2021 will go down in history as the moment when many Belgians became climate refugees in their own country.

In 2021 Street Nurses celebrates its 15th anniversary. Emilie Meessen, co-founder, and Pierre Ryckmans, medical doctor, take stock of all those years of caring for homeless people. How did they adapt with their team to work in the field and changes in the profile of their patients? How did they experience those changes and what did they do to try and face the challenge of homelessness? Very quickly, relodging people proved to be an indispensable remedy. Here is why.

Last week, the consultation commission on the "sustainable solution to the situation of homeless people in the Brussels Capital Region" published its recommendations. The 97 recommendations take a clear direction and are in line with the suggestions of the sector: access to housing, prevention, access to rights, administrative simplification, etc. All things that we as Street Nurses, together with other organisations, have been pushing forward for a long time.

Street Nurses is not involved in the hunger strike of the sans-papiers in the church of the Béguinage, the VUB and the ULB.

Nevertheless, Street Nurses is highly concerned about the people on hunger strike.

Like many others, we demand, expect, hope ... that a solution will soon be found for them. This solution can only be political.

Easily find your way as a homeless person to a free public toilet or drinking fountain in Brussels. That is the aim of the city plan "Fountains with drinkable water and free toilets", which we publish this year for the 10th time.