Church Housing Trust, Housing Justice, and Word on the Streets recently asked churches about their work with homeless people and put together a booklet to support them.
With homelessness increasing, local churches and congregations have risen to the challenge of addressing the growing need. Church Housing Trust, with Housing Justice and Word on the Streets, conducted a survey to see what services they provide, what they have learned from their experience, and what could be done further to support them.
When asked if they had seen signs of homelessness increasing in their areas, churches that took part in the survey said that they had noticed an increase in visible rough sleeping on the streets, followed by a higher number of people with no home of their own who were ‘sofa-surfing’.
Most churches ran food banks or provided hot meals, clothes, and shelter. They also understood that beyond these short-term responses, it is necessary to try and support each individual to get ongoing help, usually by referring them to statutory services.
Many church-based homelessness services run on teams of volunteers, and on average, were helping 28 people a week: most helped at least 18 homeless individuals. Nearly three quarters had the same person returning at least once a week.
This was regardless of the prosperity of the area, or the size of the church. A lot of churches cited a lack of appropriate accommodation or storage as the main restriction on the services they could provide.
Although the number of respondents was small, there were some telling trends. Respondents were very aware of the need to link with other facilities and services, not only to improve communication and action but to share experience, training, and understanding of the issues surrounding homelessness.
There was overall agreement that the government also needs to invest more in prevention. A large number of those being helped had complex needs such as mental health or addiction issues.
Click here to download ‘How to Help Homeless People’ for clergy and volunteers, or contact info@churchhousingtrust.org.uk to request hard copies.
