Lord Mayor launches Simon Community's plan to tackle homelessness

Simon Community NI and the Right Honourable, the Lord Mayor, Councillor Nichola Mallon launch dynamic new Strategic Plan and call for a united front in tackling homelessness.

This plan marks the beginning of a new chapter in the journey of Simon Community NI as it works to tackle and eradicate the spectre of homelessness from our local communities.

Chief Executive Jim Dennison -

“Our experience has proved that more people than ever before are vulnerable to homelessness, affecting people from a wide range of backgrounds. This is underlined by a significant increase in the number of people accessing our Freephone helpline, 33,000 in the last year alone. Worryingly most families are now less than two pay packets away from losing their homes.’

‘Current economic pressures are creating the perfect storm for homelessness to thrive and in response Simon Community NI has developed this forward looking strategy which will not only increase the breadth of our services to support those who are homeless but will also grow our work out in the community, supporting thousands of people across Northern Ireland every year who are vulnerable to homelessness.”

Jim went on to say “This plan, which has our clients’ needs at the heart of it, is leading the way in tackling this significant issue but in order to create lasting change for the better I am urging everyone to work with us to achieve our vision of – Homelessness is ended.”

Lord Mayor Nichola Mallon –

“I’m delighted to be supporting Simon Community NI in its efforts to ensure homelessness is ended in Northern Ireland. I have visited some of Simon’s projects recently and it is clear that there is a great demand for their services. I will be hosting a round table of civic leaders in the near future to raise the issue of homelessness and to start the conversation about how we can collectively drive forward a shared strategy to tackle this problem. ”