Supporting the homeless: some people need more help than a tenancy alone can provide

Sir, – We (Galway Simon Community) warmly welcome the Government’s recognition that more long-term supported homes are needed for people experiencing homelessness (“State ‘facing shortfall of 500 beds’ in facilities for most vulnerable homeless people”, News, October 28th). Behind the reported shortage of up to 500 places are people who have been failed repeatedly and deserve better.

Our teams work alongside people who have endured years of homelessness, trauma and loss, often living with mental illness, addiction and serious physical illness together.

Too often, services have not met their needs. They need a home where they are welcomed, treated with dignity and helped by people they can trust.

Housing-led approaches, including Housing First, must remain at the heart of our response. But some people need more help than a tenancy alone can provide. High-quality, high-support services offer permanent homes with skilled staff there day and night.

They must be part of the range of homes and services available, so that nobody is left without an option that meets their needs. That means practical help with medication, healthcare and everyday life, grounded in harm reduction and without making abstinence a condition of having a home.

Good services cost money. But leaving people without them does not remove the cost: it shifts it to emergency departments and hospital wards, while people suffer. A high-support place costs a fraction of an acute hospital bed, and staff help prevent crises and enable people to leave hospital safely.

We hope this welcome recognition will now bring reliable, long-term funding from health and housing.

People who have been failed so often deserve services that will not fail them again. – Yours, etc,

KAREN FEENEY,

Head of client services,

Galway Simon Community,

Galway.