A Stormont minister has reached out in support of under-pressure charity that was forced to shut down its drop-in centre for people with addictions following an arson attack.
Communities minister Gordon Lyons visited the Welcome Organisation’s Townsend Street premises on Thursday where he saw first-hand the damage caused by a ram-raid style attack in July.
While the charity’s work will continue, the centre itself will not be reopening.
On Thursday, the charity highlighted the issue of female homelessness with the minister and urged him to establish a “day hub facility for people experiencing homelessness in Belfast”.
Jude Whyte, Welcome chairperson said Mr Lyons had reached out following the attack.
“Female homelessness is a key area that Welcome urged the minister to take action on – specifically to provide funding for additional appropriate accommodation for homeless women that has the potential to end rough sleeping for females in Belfast,” said Mr Whyte.
“We greatly appreciate the minister taking the time to firstly offer his support to The Welcome Organisation after the arson attack on our drop-in centre, and secondly for listening to our calls for greater resources to be invested into what has been a chronically underfunded area for many years.”
Mr Whyte said the visit presented an excellent opportunity for Mr Lyons to directly address and action several of the nine priorities outlined in the Executive’s draft Programme for Government.
“We presented our vision of a multi-use, psychologically informed, day hub facility for people experiencing homelessness in Belfast, with on-site mental health support,” he added.
“The evidence we presented to minister Lyons shows that the only adequate response to the mental health crisis experienced by people affected by homelessness is the integration of mental health professionals into our established services – including drop-in, street outreach and our female accommodation services.”
He also highlighted what he described as “the documented differences in the experience of homelessness between men and women”.
He added: “Successful solutions need to have a gendered and trauma informed approach.
“We believe that a female accommodation service with the right structure and support on-site has the potential to end rough sleeping for women in Belfast.”
Mr Whyte said the arson attack meant some of the “most chronically homeless people” in Belfast had been unable to avail of services including food, toilets, showers, internet access and laundry facilities as well as life-saving support on housing, benefits and addictions.
