What if...
What if...
...no one raised money for homelessness charities?
From my perspective, homelessness charities perform a vital role in helping families and single people who are under tremendous stress.
The kind of problems a social worker might have to deal with, such as mental illness, domestic violence, or relationship breakdown are often at the root of homelessness – and poor or insecure housing can contribute to stress and mental health problems. Housing charities can help break this vicious spiral.
Some groups of people are particularly vulnerable to homelessness, and housing charities and social workers can work together to coordinate support. Groups at risk include young people leaving home for the first time; older people; people with children; people with physical or mental health problems; people on benefits or low incomes; people leaving care; ex-prisoners; and asylum seekers and refugees.
You don’t have to be on the streets to be homeless and in need of help. Many people are put up by friends or relatives, sleeping on floors or sofas; some might be in hostels or bed and breakfast accommodation; others might be overcrowded, which puts their health at risk.
Social workers are especially involved in helping families with children. Families may have been accepted as homeless by their local councils, but placed in temporary accommodation while waiting for suitable rented housing – according to Shelter, there are more than 122,000 children in this position across England.
When this happens, schooling is often disrupted, it’s hard to arrange adequate healthcare, and stresses such as relationship breakdown or unemployment are compounded. Social workers will often direct such families to housing advice workers who can help explain their rights and entitlements and can act as their advocates.
For single people the situation is often even more difficult, as they have few rights to housing. Social workers will often work with housing charities to assess the situation of vulnerable single homeless people and recommend appropriate support. Without the specialist knowledge of housing advisers, it would be much harder for social workers to offer help.
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