There is a Homeless Crisis in our Community – in the wake of Covid

The end of the pandemic may be in sight – but the Homeless Crisis is only just beginning. Please donate to the ‘Crisis in our Community’ Appeal to provide support to the increasing numbers of people becoming homeless where you live.

More people than ever are losing their homes as the true economic impact of Covid begins to unfold. Simon, who became homeless during the pandemic, had to live in his car, describing that time as “absolute hell”. You can find out how your support enabled Simon to “get his life back on track” here

We are starting to witness the full – and frightening – cost of Covid. Every day, we see real distress from local people losing their livelihoods and their homes. Homelessness can happen to anyone, especially now. There has never been greater demand for our services or greater pressure on our frontline keyworkers.

Please donate urgently – there is a Homeless Crisis happening in our local community.

The Government’s ‘Everyone In’ initiative sought to find every person sleeping rough and bring them into emergency accommodation to protect them from the virus. This has exposed the true enormity of homelessness in the UK – it is nine times worse  than the previous official government estimate – and it is getting worse.

‘Everyone In’ is ending. In West Sussex, for the first time, a record number of some 1,000 people are staying in temporary emergency accommodation. Unless they are supported into proper housing and, crucially, given support to rebuild their lives, it is only a matter of time before many find themselves without hope or a home.

We need to meet this challenge and help local people turn their lives around. It doesn’t have to be like this – we can help – we can support men and women towards a brighter future. But we cannot do this without your support.

Long before the pandemic there was a public health crisis – homelessness. In spite of ‘Everyone In’ deaths among homeless people in the UK have risen by more than a third in a year. Even as we take extreme measures to protect ourselves from a potentially fatal virus, the ravages of homelessness continue to steal people from our community.

Please consider giving as much as you can afford, to those who have lost so much. We all want nothing more than for our community to recover from this awful pandemic – we have to make sure everyone gets a chance. With your support, we can hope for better times for everyone.

Find out from Claire Halford-Dale, Worthing Community Hub Manager, what it has been like during the pandemic, supporting the growing number of local men and women who are in desperate need.

Other Ways To make a difference