At the start of 2020, emphasis focused on people sleeping rough in Greater Manchester prompted us to look at how homelessness affects families.
The Shared Health Foundation Gold Standard report estimated that 2,742 children were living in temporary accommodation in Greater Manchester with Two years considered an average ‘temporary’ placement.
Meanwhile the number of homeless families in GM has risen by almost 1000%.
It was identified that many families experiencing or at risk of homelessness are placed in emergency and temporary accommodation, within and out of their original area. Often, they have no idea of the resources available, and the situation can be even harder to navigate when they have no local connection. This also results in making it harder for them to come out of homelessness.
It was for this reason, we with Shared Health Foundation decided to co-design and develop a family specific section on the Street Support website with targeted information and advice, easy ways to find relevant services and local resources near to where families are being placed.
The content featured on the database has been a collaboration with different VCSE organisations across GM. We do encourage organisations to complete this online form to have their services featured.
Sam Pratt, Shared Health Foundation said: “Families experiencing homelessness find it difficult to navigate the system in the best of times, never mind a pandemic making it worse. This website will be a one-stop-shop for resources and advice to help reduce the trauma of homelessness.”
Gary Dunstan, Co-founder of Street Support Network said “We are very grateful to Morgan Sindfell and the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity who have generously funded this vital project. It’s a huge concern that this problem is getting worse due to the impact of the pandemic. If this works and helps families get the help they need in Greater Manchester, we hope other Street Support Network locations would be interested in implementing it for their cities and regions.”
streetsupport.net/families/ will be launched to the public on Tuesday 18 January.
